When Warren County Public Schools holds its next school board meeting Tuesday, members will consider whether to raise property taxes for the district.

Officials are considering whether to raise the current tax of 43.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value to 44 cents per $100 value. The motor vehicle rate is holding at 54.5 cents for every $100 of assessed property value.

Before the board decides, it wants feedback at a public hearing at 7:30 pm. Tuesday at 303 Lovers Lane.

Chief Financial Officer Chris McIntyre said the hearing is for “any member of the community to come out and give their thoughts and opinions on the tax rates.”

McIntyre said the district faces big expenses, such as pay raises for employees, expanded instruction for students and facility maintenance.

“As anything ages, the maintenance increases typically,” he said.

A sewer connection at Alvaton Elementary School will take a roughly $500,000 investment, McIntyre said. North Warren Elementary School also needs a partial replacement of its geothermal heating and cooling system, costing roughly $275,000. The district is also looking for land for a new elementary school in the Warren Central High School feeder area.

High enrollment growth means the district needs to bring in more tax revenue to finance growing program and staff needs, he said.

Meanwhile, Simpson County Schools is considering its own tax hike.

Superintendent Jim Flynn said the school board will consider whether to raise property taxes one half of one cent at a board meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday. If approved, taxpayers would see an increase from 51.1 cents per $100 of assessed property value to 51.6 cents.

The district held a public hearing Thursday to get feedback on the move. Flynn said five people spoke at that meeting.

“Four of those spoke in favor of the proposed tax rate (and) one of them disagreed with the tax rate,” he said.

Supporters said the new rate would help bring in money to enhance vocational education and prepare students for 800 incoming jobs, along with pay raises for teachers. A critic suggested the district should sell excess property instead.

“We’ve only been able to give very, very modest pay raises in the recent years and there’s been some years where we haven’t been able to give a pay raise,” Flynn said.

A tax increase could create a revenue stream for those raises, he said. As much as 46 cents of the 51.6 rate would go to the district’s general fund. The remaining 5.6 cents would go toward the restricted building fund.

“We feel like this modest increase of one half of one cent will generate the revenues that would allow us to consider investing in the instructional resources that our students need in the classroom and to consider a modest pay raise for our staff,” he said.

— Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.