Monday night, the Columbia School Board approved the tax increase, now it has to convince the public to do the same. The $0.54 tax increase would raise $10.3 million and the school board says the district needs the money.

Right now it's projecting a $10 deficit for 2008. The school board is already planning to reduce district spending by $5 million.

If the public approves the tax increase, the $10 million will go to balance the budget and make sure cash reserves stay at a healthy level. With the tax levy, teacher salaries could possibly increase by 2-3% as planned.

If the public rejects the proposal, the board will have to cut spending by $5 million and maybe more to balance the budget. Right now the question is if voters are willing to pay for quality education.

"It's going to be a tough sell," said Kim Weber, Columbia Council of PTA's. "I think, just because of where we are at in the world economy. But I think Columbia is a very education-minded community with our colleges and our secondary learning. So i think in the end result, people will see the value for what there is and vote for it."

The district says it will probably make somewhere between 90-100 sales pitches to voters between now and April. It encourages voters to hold the district accountable and ask the hard questions.

The $0.54 tax increase would boost total school tax to $5.25 per $100 assessed valuation. The tax hike vote will be April 8th.