Voters in the New Prague Area School District approved the school district’s request for additional local revenue by a wide margin.
The final tally was 3,927 to 2,049 (65.71% in favor, 34.29% opposed). “We did it,” Superintendent Andy Vollmuth shouted, slamming his hand on a table before a gathering of 40-plus volunteers and district staff who met in the school district’s board meeting room Tuesday evening.
The news sent the gathering of supporters into an eruption of relief and joy voters accepted the school district’s request for an additional $510 per student for the next decade, an increase linked to inflation and expected to generate about $2 million annually.
The superintendent thanked voters for the support. Informal estimates indicate about half of the district’s voters participated in the election either on Election Day or via early/absentee voting.
“I’m very, very, very grateful for everything everybody has done,” Vollmuth said, thanking members of the advocacy committee and district staff who delivered information on the levy request to voters. “It’s the work of the committee that worked so hard, the principals, the teachers, the paraprofessionals. It was a total team effort.”
To the owner of a typical residential property – one valued at about $400,000 – voter approval will add about $20 per month to the district’s share of property taxes.
Billed as a maintenance request, the proposal came after voters rejected requests in 2022 and 2023. Since 2022, the district has cut about $7 million off the growth of its general fund in the wake of the unsuccessful requests.
The results were announced after the polls closed Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 4. The results were announced after the Nov. 6 print edition of The New Prague Times went to press. For more information, see the Nov. 13 print edition of The Times.