EBR school taxes pass

• By CHARLES LUSSIER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Mar 9, 2008 - UPDATED: 1:45 a.m.

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1:45 a.m. update:
Returns for the EBR school system tax renewals show all three passing.

With 277 of 277 precincts reporting, the unofficial vote tally is:
Proposition No. 1
29,090    64%    YES    
16,083    36%    NO    

Proposition No. 2
27,938    62%    YES    
16,886    38%    NO    

Proposition No. 3
28,832    64%    YES    
16,079    36%    NO

___________________________

12:05 a.m.
By about a 2-1 margin, East Baton Rouge Parish voters were renewing a 1-cent sales tax devoted to public education in Baton Rouge, though many precincts had not reported results at press time Saturday.

“While all of the precincts are not in, it seems very promising, more promising than it was earlier this week, I can assure you that,” said Superintendent Charlotte Placide.

East Baton Rouge Parish voters — excluding those in Baker, Central and Zachary — had three related, but separate, propositions to vote on Saturday. Collectively, they amount to a 1-cent sales tax.

According to incomplete and unofficial returns, with 248 of 277 precincts reporting, results were:

• Proposition 1, a 0.51-cent tax for school construction, repairs and improving technology: 26,355 yes votes, or 64 percent; 14,610 no votes, or 36 percent.

• Proposition 2, a 0.08-cent tax for improving school discipline, curbing truancy and offering alternative education: 25,313 yes votes, or 62 percent; 15,348 no votes, or 38 percent.

• Proposition 3, 0.41-cent tax for supplementing employee salary and benefits: 26,138 yes votes, or 64 percent; 14,587 no votes, or 36 percent.

First approved by voters in 1998, this penny sales tax was renewed by a three-to-one margin in 2003. That extended the tax through 2009.

This time, the East Baton Rouge Parish school system is seeking not a five-year extension, but a 10-year extension. If renewed, the tax is expected to raise about $871 million between 2009 and 2019.

The construction plan calls for building or rebuilding seven schools, including Lee High, and a full renovation and expansion of Baton Rouge Magnet High School.