Story County residents will visit the polls again Tuesday to decide the fate of a proposed one percent sales tax, which would ultimately fund the construction of a new high school on Mortensen Road in Ames.

Proponents want to raise the sales tax from six percent to seven percent on most items in order to improve the quality of the county’s public schools. This same proposal was struck down Feb. 15, mostly because of ISU students, officials said.

LaDona Rowings, Ames school board member, said students would benefit from the proposed tax.

Rowings, an Ames resident, said professors who are thinking about teaching at Iowa State, especially those with children, will compare the quality of Ames schools to those in other college towns.

“If ISU students want top professors, they certainly want the schools in Story County to be appealing,” Rowings said. She also advised students to keep in mind that many daily purchases, such as groceries and gasoline, are not subject to the sales tax.

Nick Johns, superintendent of the Ames Community School District, said there are problems with the high school and middle school in Ames that need money to be fixed. Due to the small size of the middle school, he said the district has had to add onto the building eight times in the last 30 years.

“The kids are packed in like sardines,” Johns said. “We’ve made additions to both buildings, but they’re insufficient for the number of students. Both schools are overcrowded.”

If the tax is approved, the Ames School District plans to build a new high school and convert the current high school into a middle school, Johns said.

“We just bought 122 acres from Iowa State, and that would be the site where we would put the new high school,” he said.

Harold Hulleman, superintendent of the Nevada school district, said his district’s main problem is the elementary school.

“Parts of the building were constructed in 1916, it is only half air-conditioned and the cafeteria is too small,” said Hulleman, who plans to address these problems if the proposal passes.

Johns said the sales tax increase would supplement the funds that are going to be raised from a higher property tax. “Either way the vote goes, there will be a property-tax increase. The question is, will [the improvements to the schools] be paid for entirely with a property tax or will they be supplemented with a sales-tax increase,” he said.

Hulleman said the money will come in more quickly with the sales tax.

“The problem with bonds is that money is lost to interest payments, and the state has restrictions on how much property tax it spends on buildings,” he added.

Some Ames residents and ISU students, however, disapprove of the sales-tax increase because they said they feel students who attend Iowa State should not have to support the Ames public schools.

“If I was an Ames resident, I’d probably vote for it, but I’m paying enough for my own school,” said Bob Cohanim, junior in aerospace engineering. “I just don’t think it benefits ISU students.”

Debbie Gallagher, Ames resident and parent, said she is against the sales-tax increase. She said the money should be raised solely through property taxes since Ames residents and property owners will be the main benefactors.

“I think that students need to get involved with the issue, go out and vote, because they’re paying for it,” she said.

Superintendent Johns said the sales-tax increase also will benefit students who live in apartments since a large property-tax increase would raise their rent.

If the proposal is voted down, Johns said “it will be much more difficult” to go through with the district’s plans. In Nevada, Hulleman said, the schools won’t be renovated without the sales-tax increase.

The 1 percent sales tax vote will be Tuesday at all precinct locations. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Story County Auditor Judy Emmons said.