ELECTION 2004 Republican Geoff Davis, Democrat Nick Clooney and Independent Michael Slider. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

• Clashes get tense in debate • New-voter signups soaring • Democrats winning race to sign up new voters • Increase in ripped-off signs gauges raw election emotion • Southgate headed to special vote on school tax • Gas tax stirs Senate campaign • 34th District race: Hot, cool as Brinkman, Miller contrast • Cocaine for voter registration fraud alleged • Park 'giveaway' roils levy • Early voting opens in Florida, and a few problems are reported • Blackwell proposes allowing ballots to be cast at wrong place • Bush, Kerry step up rhetoric on Iraq war • And down the stretch they come... • Borgman cartoon • Kentucky candidates guide • Election 2004 section

Petitioners say they have collected 371 signatures from registered voters over the past few weeks to force the tax question to a special election. They needed only 135 signatures.

"It's been turned in and verified," said Campbell County Clerk Jack Snodgrass. "There were enough signatures on there to warrant a recall."

On Friday, Snodgrass told the school district it has three options: recall the resolution; put it in the November 2006 general election; or hold a special election in the next few months that would have to be paid for by the school district.

"We're going to go ahead and have the special election," said Superintendent Curtis Hall, who said it will cost the district almost $3,000. "If it is voted down, the school board will be forced to merge with one of the other three districts." Those districts are Campbell County, Fort Thomas and Newport.

The Southgate district is 102 years old and the second smallest in the state with 166 students in one school (preschool through eighth grade). Teacher salaries rank 175th out of 176 districts statewide. Hall said the money from the tax increase - about $150,000 annually - will go to teacher salaries and technology upgrades.

Proponents of the tax say they don't want to lose amenities that go with a small school, such as a small teacher to student ratio and the opportunity to walk to school.

But the increase means a jump from $5.22 to $7.38 per $1,000 of assessed value on a home. That's an additional $216 a year on a $100,000 home, which has opponents of the tax concerned.

"It was raised too much at one time," said Bob Speier, one of seven Southgate residents who circulated petitions for the recall. "They should have started this four or five years ago. Everybody I talked to agrees that the whole thing has been mismanaged for years."

The district contends that it has focused on cost cutting the last few years rather than seeking tax increases. Hall said last month the district has found ways to save $92,000 annually, including cuts in staff, and that costs cannot be cut further.

A date for the vote has not been set. Hall said he expects it will take place in December or January.

E-mail wcroyle@enquirer.com