Fort Smith voters pass first millage increase in 31 years

$120 million in school district upgrades endorsed

FORT SMITH — Fort Smith School District voters passed a 5.558-mill property tax increase Tuesday night, the first tax increase in 31 years, that officials say will finance a five-year, $120 million improvement plan.

With all 52 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:

For 7,507 Against 4,603

In a statement from the school district, school board President Susan McFerran said she was “elated and so proud of the Fort Smith and Barling communities for realizing the importance of this decision.”

Barling is a part of the Fort Smith School District.

The tax rate for residents within the school district will increase from 36.5 mills to 42.058 mills. The district calculates the increase will add about $111 to the annual real estate property tax bill for a house appraised at $100,000, which is assessed for tax purposes at $20,000.

A mill is a taxing unit equal to one-tenth of a cent. Each mill is charged against each dollar of assessed value and produces $1 of property tax for each $1,000 of taxable valuation.

Fort Smith is the fifth-largest school district in the state with 14,340 students and 1,900 employees, including 1,190 teachers.

Recommendations for the five-year improvement plan the School Board approved in March originated from a 57-member citizen committee that inspected district facilities, met five times in early 2018 and devoted more than 900 hours to decide on and prioritize improvements.

Committee chairman Jason Green said he was thankful for the confidence and support the people of the district had for the improvement project.

“It’s going to be a lot of hard work and we are ready to get started to make it a reality,” he said.

At the top of the list of school improvements is $5.5 million for safety and security. That will pay for installation of controlled access systems for every campus, secure entrances at all elementary schools that aren’t currently equipped, exterior lighting improvements at all campuses, and exterior Americans With Disabilities Act improvements at all campuses.

The plan also calls for adding walls to open classroom space at Barling, Cook, Morrison and Woods elementary schools to improve security. The open spaces contain two to four classrooms that don’t have doors that can be locked against intruders.

Expansions and improvements for the district’s two high schools, which include construction of two tornado shelters at each school, are expected to cost $ 43.4 million.

Multipurpose gymnasiums seating 2,500, including new locker rooms, are planned for each high school at an estimated total cost of nearly $30 million.

Darby and Ramsey junior high schools will be renovated at an estimated cost of $12.7 million.

A career and technology center will be developed with specialized laboratories and classrooms for students in subjects such as health care, information technology and manufacturing. The estimated cost of developing the center is $13.7 million.

Technology will be upgraded to provide annual replacement of computers that will be provided for each student in third through 12th grades at an estimated annual cost of $825,000.

The improvements at the various schools will allow the district to eliminate the need to the transfer of 450 elementary school students a day from their attendance areas because of the lack of space.

Ninth- graders would move to the high school and sixth- graders would move from the elementary school to a new middle school with seventh- and eighth-graders.

Multipurpose gymnasiums seating 2,500, including new locker rooms, are planned for each high school at an estimated total cost of nearly $30 million.