Half-mill levy will be decided countywide

GETWAWAY — Voters across Lawrence County will decide next week on whether to renew a half-mill levy funding Collins Career Technical Center.

The levy, first passed in 1994, must be renewed every five years, according to Steve Dodgion, superintendent for CCTC.

“It’s a capital improvement levy,” he said. “It has to be spent on bricks and mortar or pieces of machinery. It can’t be spent on salaries.”

Dodgion said the levy costs about $13-14 a year for person with home valued at $100,000.

“It brings us about $400,000 a year,” he said.

Dodgion said the school has seen the benefits of the levy funding.

“Right now, we have a 20,000-square foot adult education center on our campus,” he said. “That is a direct result of the levy money we see every year. It allows us to offer a new nursing program and it opens adult education opportunities to people in the county.”

Dodgion said the money could be spent district-wide, including on the Coal Grove campus and an Ironton location.

“We can use it wherever we see fit,” he said.

He said it is also a benefit to the STEM program CCTC offers through Project Lead the Way classes in several Lawrence County school districts.

“Since we’ve opened a new facility, it’s given us more room for secondary programs. It takes more square footage to do a STEM program,” he said.

Dodgion said CCTC is appealing to county voters to renew the levy.
“This is an opportunity to get support from the county so we can continue to grow,” he said.