Voters are approving the operations tax to fund after-school programs in the Falls City School District by a healthy margin in Tuesday’s initial election results.

The Falls City School District asked voters to decide on a tax that would raise about $750,000 over five years for after-school programs such as sports, music and extracurricular activities including math and literacy development.

Homeowners would pay a tax of $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed value for five years, the same rate they pay now and which expires in June 2025. Homeowners with an average assessed value of $250,000 would pay about 312 dollars a year.

Voters in the remote Polk County school district, about 10 miles southwest of Dallas, have approved four operating levies since 2006.

The district has 180 students, including 62 in the high school, and has had budget problems in recent years. He laid off two teachers and cut two teachers in his most recent budget.

Falls City Superintendent Cory Ellis said if the tax is not approved Tuesday, the district would 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 the Salem Statesman Journal: Falls City School Operations Tax Approved in First Results