Petal School District: Preliminary results show bond referendum passes by 80%

PETAL, Miss. (WDAM) - According to the Petal School District, preliminary results (not counting absentee and affidavit votes) show that 80% of votes were in favor of the 2023 All In Bond Referendum.

“Obviously, it’s an exciting and historic day in the life of our school district,” said Petal School District Superintendent Dr. Matt Dillon. “We’ve been in existence for 47 years, and this is only the third bond issue to pass with an 80% pass rate. I first just want to say thank you; thank you to our great community, our great citizens, our great faculty and staff at the high school and throughout the entire district that believed in us.”

Once the vote has been officially confirmed, the school district said it will share the next steps on the bidding process, construction phase and the overall timeline of all the capital improvement projects.

Dillon said they are estimating the start date to be in the spring of 2024.

“We’re going to keep our citizens, family and staff up to date on what that looks like,” Dillon said. “Obviously, we got to get into a lot of red tape with a bond issue, closing out our books financially and then getting to that fun process of the bid process.”

To see the full breakdown of the results, click HERE.

Voting began Tuesday at 7 a.m. at the Petal High School Gymnasium and ended at 7 p.m.

For the bond to pass, 60% of the vote must be in favor of the proposal.

To cover the bond, a 4.5 mill raise in ad valorem taxes would be required, meaning someone younger than 65 years old who owns a $100,000 home would pay an additional $45 in property taxes a year.

For more information on the bond referendum, click HERE.

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