LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — If you're in Lexington County and you haven't cast your ballot yet, this story is for you. One of the things you may be voting on is the Lexington Richland Five bond referendum.
According to the district superintendent, Dr. Akil Ross, the bond would fund $240M worth of district projects.
"To service the debt on this bond would cost the same. We have structured it through amortization, so if the bond referendum passes or fails, the tax rate is the same," Ross said.
Ross said with this referendum a new borrowing total and long term debt would need to be paid off over the next 20 years.
"We've identified over $182M of needs in our facilities, as well as a need to alleviate the capacity issues that we have in one side of our district," Ross said.
Ross said the bond would allow money to fix things like plumbing and roofing, add advanced security cameras and secure entries, and implement instructional programs about entrepreneurship and AI.
Some voters I spoke with shared their opinions for and against the referendum.
"What we need more of is management and the money's not being managed right. We don't know where the money's going and they keep asking for more and more money and we've got to put a stop to it," Michael Sims, one voter said.
"There's a lot of schools like we talked earlier that are kind of long in the tooth, that need to have some updating done. There's some other schools that have been built with the latest, greatest kind of stuff and I think the schools around here have been let down a little bit," Ralph Lacomba, another voter said.
If the bond doesn't pass, Ross said the district would have to re-evaluate needs and decide what is left undone.
Ross said it's important for voters to do their research before Election Day.
For more information about the bond referendum, you can click here.
