Voters head

to the polls Tuesday and decide whether the Coweta County School System's

special sales tax should be continued after this June.

Last March,

voters rejected an extension of the tax, but this year the school system

is also calling for a referendum to lower property taxes for seniors.

The senior

citizen referendum will call for raising property tax exemptions to exempt

the first $40,000 of assessed value for Coweta County property owners

aged 65 to 69; $60,000 assessed value for citizens aged 71 to 74; and

$80,000 assessed value for citizens 75 and over.

The proposal

matches a structure suggested by a committee of senior citizens convened

earlier this year by board member Allan Payton.

If approved

senior tax exemptions would show up on the 2003 tax bills, according to

state law.

A renewal of

the current special purpose local option sales tax would bring in an estimated

$90 million over five years, said school officials, and would be targeted

at repayment of outstanding debt from bond referendums in the early 1990s,

new school construction and a host of classroom additions, repairs and

refurbishments at existing schools, Superintendent of Education Richard

Brooks said.

Board member

Allan Payton and other school board members have repeatedly stated, "This

is not a tax increase, it's a renewal of an existing tax."

At this Tuesday's

board meeting, the board approved a contract for new bleachers at Northgate's

stadium. The bleachers are contingent on the SPLOST vote passing Tuesday.

Polls are open

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.