By admin 
Voters approved the operating levy to fund after-school programs in the Falls City School District by a healthy margin in Tuesday’s primary election results.
Falls City School District asked voters to decide on a levy that would provide about $750,000 over five years for after-school programs such as sports, music and extracurricular activities, including math and literacy development.
Property owners would have to pay $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed value for five years, the same rate they currently pay, which expires in June 2025. Homeowners with an average assessed value of $250,000 would pay about $312 per year .
Voters in the school district in remote Polk County, about 10 miles southwest of Dallas, have passed four operation taxes since 2006.
The district has 180 students, 62 of whom are in high school, and has faced budget problems in recent years. In the most recent budget, two teachers were laid off and two teachers were retrenched.
Falls City Superintendent Cory Ellis said if the levy doesn’t pass Tuesday, the district will likely try again in the May 2025 election.
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared in Salem Statesman Journal: Falls City school activity levy will be reported in early results