Herald-Whig Staff Writer

The Quincy School Board wants to hear from the public about what it should do with the proceeds of a 1 percent sales tax that, if it passes, would be intended for school building improvements.

Voters will be asked if they favor a school facilities tax at the polls Nov. 4. If the measure passes, it will be up to the Adams County Board whether to implement it and to determine whether to collect the whole 1 percent or some fraction of it.

The full 1 percent would increase the local sales tax from 7.75 percent to 8.75 percent. Based on last year's figures, that tax increase would have raised $4.2 million for Quincy schools.

A survey will be included in Monday's edition of The Herald-Whig that includes an explanation of the tax and what it can and cannot be used for. The survey also offers four options for using the tax, and it asks residents to prioritize them.

The options are:

* To pay off existing debt obligations. The district owes $30.1 million for building projects already completed.

* To pay off future debt obligations. The district is committed to completing at least $20 million worth of projects in the next 10 years.

* To split the proceeds between past and future obligations.

* To replace the district's old schools with new, energy-efficient buildings.

The survey also will be available at several retail outlets, at any school and the School Board office. In addition, it will be available on the School District's Web site, www.qps.org. A link to the survey is on The Herald-Whig's Web site, www.whig.com.

Paper copies of the survey should be returned by Oct. 8 to Quincy schools or the Board Office at 1444 Maine. The results of the anonymous survey will be available at the Oct. 15 board meeting.

-- hwagner@whig.com/221-3374