ST. MARTIN PARISH, La. (KLFY)- The St. Martin Parish School Board has an important item on the ballot to renew an existing tax aimed at completing upgrades at schools parish wide.

The Parish wide School District Proposition States:

"Shall St. Martin Parish School District, Louisiana (the "District"), incur debt and issue bonds to the amount of not exceeding $30,000,000, in one or more series, to run not exceeding 20 years from date thereof, with interest at a rate of not exceeding 7% per annum, for the purpose of financing capital expenditures for school purposes for the District, including constructing, acquiring and/or improving schools and other school related facilities, together with equipment and furnishings therefor, including, to the extent feasible, those specific school projects set forth in the "Capital Improvement Plan" to be approved prior to the election, title to which shall be in the public; which bonds will be general obligations of the District and will be payable from ad valorem taxes to be levied and collected in the manner provided by Article VI, Section 33 of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana of 1974 and statutory authority supplemental thereto, with no estimated increase in the millage rate to be levied in the first year of issue above the 21.50 mills currently being levied to pay General Obligation Bonds of the District?"

The item on the ballot for the May 3rd election includes funds to continue essential school operations at in St. Martin Parish. The St. Martin Parish Superintendent, Frederick Wiltz, said the tax renewal will focus on improving the infrastructure all seventeen schools in the parish.

"The primary purpose of this tax renewal is to help us to support maintaining our facilities," said Wiltz.

The $30 million dollar bond would allow for renovations to deteriorated educational buildings, and facilities, expand technology in the school system, and strengthen security systems used to increase safety of school staff.

"Some of our facilities are 20 plus years old, so maintaining our facilities and making sure that we are able to use them for the next 25 to 30 years is something that we want to ensure we can do, because the cost of actually building a new facility is probably more than $30 million," said Wiltz.

Wiltz said though people will be enjoying the Crawfish Festival this weekend, he encourages voters to head to the polls.

"We're the largest educator in St. Martin Parish," said Wiltz. "So having the support of the community is something that's very vital to us, as a system we don't want to waste, we want to make sure that we use the money very wisely and take care of the items that need to be taken care of throughout the district."

Polls will open at 7am and will close at 8pm on Saturday.

To learn more about the proposed projects, visit the St. Martin Parish School Board Facebook Page.

To find your nearest polling location, click here.

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