New Austin Public Schools Superintendent James Hess was apprehensive at noon, philosophical at 10:30 p.

Wednesday, November 03, 1999

New Austin Public Schools Superintendent James Hess was apprehensive at noon, philosophical at 10:30 p.m. and positively beaming by midnight. Riding on the crest of the public’s overwhelming approval of the school district’s $1.9 million excess levy referendum, he was a happy man with results from seven of the nine precincts tallied.

"It’s a good feeling," said Hess, from a bench just inside the district administration building. "Now that we’ve got that in place, we have a lot of good work to do."

When the first results rolled in at roughly 10:15 p.m. from Oakland Town Hall – 60 ‘yes’ and 86 ‘no’ votes – his face wasn’t nearly so sunny. The mood in the district meeting room was muted then, as administrative staff, candidates, press and board members munched on vegetables and pretzels and busied themselves while they waited for more results.

"We’ve done as many things – everything reasonable and prudent – as we could have," Hess said after the Oakland results arrived. "We ran a good information campaign through the excellent group of people who got involved in our KIDS (Keep Improving District Schools) campaign – and all the others who got involved in one capacity or another. Now we just have to leave it up to the voters."

Even when Southgate came in, with 717 ‘yes’ votes and 251 ‘no’ votes, Hess wasn’t taking anything for granted. By midnight though, with 2,700 ‘yes’ votes counted and 1,193 ‘no’ votes and two precincts to go, he was ready to admit victory. The final count was 4,250 in favor of the 10-year referendum and 1,639 against. The 1995 levy passed with 5,415 for and 2,407 against.

The term for the 2001 levy is double what that one was and is higher by $4.3 million. Financial accountant Lori Volz said the local portion of the increase is $120,000 – the other two-thirds will be paid by the state. The success of the levy means an additional – beyond the property tax levy – $345 per pupil unit. The increase over the current levy would work out to approximately $430,000 more yearly for the district, or an additional $81 per pupil unit.

Hess is not ready to rest on his laurels, however, despite the 72.2 percent ‘yes’ vote from the district.

"We have to take a long, hard look at the district finances and what programs should receive the greatest funding and support," he said. "Once we carefully examine spending patterns and expenditures, then we should be able to develop a more comprehensive approach to the budget."

Hess said the district’s new financial software should make such a comprehensive approach to the budget possible for the first time, just as soon as the final results of the audit are approved by the board and plugged into the system. He