Graffiti scars school; $500 reward offered
Marion Police are searching for suspects who vandalized the high school late last Thursday night and a $500 reward is being offered to anyone with information that leads to a conviction.
Green and black paint was used to spray vulgar, racial and threatening graffiti on the outside walls of Crittenden County High School, Rocket Arena, an outdoor propane tank and a monument behind the gymnasium. Also, an S-10 Chevrolet pickup and white Cadillac parked in front of a nearby residence at 530 W. Elm St., were spray painted. The vehicles belonged to Bobby Long.
The main building and high school annex were vandalized by the painters. Damage at the school was estimated at several hundred dollars.
Police Chief Ray O'Neal said officers investigating the incident have found one of the spray cans used to do the damage. Police know which store the paint was purchased at in Marion and are currently reviewing videotape from that store's surveillance cameras, trying to identify suspects. Additionally, the can is being checked for fingerprints.
Crittenden County Tipline is offering a $500 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects. Callers may remain anonymous and still receive the reward. Call the Tipline at 965-3000, or the Marion Police Department at 965-3500.
The police chief believes that more than one person was involved in the crime because a soccer goal was also pushed out into the street and he says it would have taken more than one person to move the object.
The painting was done sometime between the end of school Thursday and 4:43 a.m., Friday, when a school employee found the damage.
The messages left included vulgarity along with names of teachers, a racial insult and a threat to blow up the school. Police checked the buildings and surroundings early Friday morning, but found nothing to indicate the bomb threat was real.
"We're not taking this lightly at all," Chief O'Neal said. "We're actively using all of our resources to find out who did this."

Magistrates OK insurance premium levy
Crittenden County residents who have insurance premiums coming due after July 1 will see at least a two-percent increase in their costs.
Local magistrates approved a two-percent insurance tax during a special meeting last Thursday morning. Insurance companies collecting the tax will have the option of charging an additional 15 percent of the tax rate or two percent of the premium, which ever is less. That fee is for collecting and administering the tax.
Based on a $1,000 insurance premium, the new tax will cost the consumer $20 for the tax and another $3 if the insurance companies take legal fees, which most do.
The State of Kentucky already charges a 1.5-percent insurance premium surcharge on all policies.
The new county insurance toll will be assessed on premiums of all types, excluding worker's compensation, health and life. Federal crop insurance premiums are also exempt.
The tax will not affect anyone insuring property or risk inside the corporate city limits. They are excluded because the City of Marion already has a higher, four-percent insurance tax.
The tax issue was a controversial one. About 100 residents attended a public hearing on the plan last month and nearly 40 were at last week's meeting where magistrates voted 5-1 to approve the plan.
Magistrate Greg West cast the only dissenting vote. He had voted against the idea when it was initially proposed in January along with Magistrate Dan Wood. On the second reading, Wood voted for the amended ordinance, pointing out that he did so reluctantly and only after determining that it was a last resort in balancing the county budget.
Magistrates Curt Buntin, Percy Cook, Helen McConnell and Glenn Underdown were for the ordinance both times it came to a vote.
"By law I have to balance the budget and send it to Frankfort," Judge-Executive Fred Brown told those who gathered at the courthouse last Thursday for the meeting.
The meeting, like the hearing late last month, was moved to the upstairs courtroom to accommodate the large crowd. Most fiscal court meetings are held in a small meeting room next to the judge's office. The normal venue holds only about 20 people besides the magistrates and county officials.
"If we cut everything we possibly could from the budget, it still wouldn't meet," Judge Brown explained after going over the spending plan in great detail.
The tax proposal originally called for a four-percent rate and it did not exclude health or life. Magistrates decided that a two-percent levy would generate between $125,000 and $200,000 annually; therefore, they lowered the rate before approving the new tax. They also excluded life and health in the final version.
Brown said his projected spending plan for Fiscal Year 2008-09 predicts a $145,000 shortfall. New tax revenue, he said, should make up the difference.
"We would have been having this same discussion last year had it not been for the fact that we received $100,000 for leasing the county's land for gas and oil exploration," Magistrate Wood said after the meeting. "That held this off for a year."
A vote was taken following a two-hour discussion of the budget. Line by line, the county judge went through the spending plan and allowed those gathered in the audience to speak in regard to each item. Several supported cuts to various parts of the budget and in most cases, magistrates agreed. Yet after going through dozens of expenses and cutting or eliminating seven items from the budget, the savings amounted to less than $10,000.
Some residents voiced their disapproval of the tax and suggested that more drastic cuts could be made. Some told county leaders that they would prefer a property tax hike over the insurance charge.
Raising the property tax was not a viable solution, magistrates said, because in order to raise the needed revenue to balance the budget, the tax rate would have to be set higher than the law will allow without putting the idea on the ballot.
According to tax roll information supplied by Property Valuation Administrator Ronnie Heady, Crittenden County currently has real estate valued at $271,300,000. The county's local property tax rate is 12 cents per $100 of assessed value. The rate would need to be increased to 17.5 cents in order to generate $150,000 in additional revenue for the county coffers. Kentucky law does not allow property tax rates to be increased more than four percent in any year without allowing residents to vote on the matter. Taking the maximum increase allowed by statute without a vote would have meant a tax rate of about 12.5 cents, which would generate less than $20,000. That amount, even with the suggested cuts, would not come close to balancing the budget, magistrates said.
Judge Brown said he will exercise his own discretion in regard to the budget cuts proposed during last week's meeting. Magistrates had suggested cutting various costs totaling $9,600, including $1,500 for temporary help in the judge's office, $2,000 for the judge's office travel, $3,000 from magistrates' travel and $1,500 from magistrates' salary and expenses. Once the judge presents his budget to the magistrates, it can be approved or amended by the fiscal court. That will occur in April.