White County voters approve ESPLOST

CLEVELAND - White County voters said yes by a wide margin to extending the education sales tax in the county.

A complete but unofficial vote count showed 1,361 voted in favor while 268 voted against.

Dr. Jeff Wilson, superintendent of schools, said after the vote, "Folks understand
that education is the economic engine of most communities and this will
allow us for the next several years to ensure that we can keep property
taxes down and do the things we need to do to maintain our buildings with that penny. So I'm very appreciative to the voters of White County for
supporting our schools "

Wilson said the new Ninth Grade Academy and roofing issues at the Intermediate School will the biggest project funded with SPLOST funds.

White County Election Superintendent Garrison Baker said 11.67 percent of the county's 14,000 registered voters cast ballots.

Baker said it was not a good turnout, but it was about what they expected.