Voters Approve Millage in Bentonville; Second High School Coming

Bentonville voters overwhelmingly approved a tax increase Tuesday to fund a second high school.

A 2.9-mill increase passed with 8,132 votes, 70.3 percent of those who voted, according to NWA Media.

The number of votes against was 3,429, 29.7 percent of the total.

The results are unofficial, according to the report. The vote raises the district’s millage rate to 46.6, highest among the districts in Benton and Washington counties.

It was the third time in six years the district had asked voters to approve a second high school, according to the report.

A second school is needed, according to the Bentonville School Board, to ease overcrowding at the high school, which had 4,155 students in grades 9 through 12 as of Tuesday, according to the report

Enrollment is expected to surpass 5,000 within three years.

Voters rejected a 6.7-mil increase in June 2012. Tuesday’s proposal was significantly lower after a football stadium and other miscellaneous items were removed from the previous millage proposal.

The second high school will be built on Gamble Road in Centerton, with a capacity of 2,250 students. NWA Media reported the estimated cost is $86 million, and the state is expected to contribute $13 million.