On May 8, taxpayers living in the Pearl River County School District will have a tough choice to make.

They will decide, for the second time in as many years, whether they are willing to allow the District to increase the millage, and thereby collect additional taxes to upgrade facilities at the District’s three campuses.

It’s a tough decision, especially for those who don’t have children attending class.

Throughout my grade school years, I’ve seen a number of campuses in several states. Some I barely remember while others are hard to forget.

So, when I came to Pearl River County in the early 90s to finish my last three grade school years at Pearl River Central High School, I can honestly say I was less than impressed.

It certainly wasn’t the worst campus I attended, but having just finished freshman year at a campus that was recently built, I was already used to fresh paint and new desks.

Eventually, I learned to look past the computer lab featuring devices that still asked for line commands, the rundown metal building we called a band hall and eating in a cafeteria that was probably built when my parents were born.

Today, none of those things are true at PRC. A new cafeteria has been built, the band practices in a new facility and the computers all have graphical user interfaces.

Each time I visit PRC High School to cover a story, I can see the changes that have taken place, all of which were for the better. And while those changes took place slowly, they were done without extra millage.

Each of those changes was needed and so many more are as well. But it will be up to those who reside in that District to decide when those changes will come.

As such, each taxpayer has a responsibility to become educated on what the administration has in mind and then cast an educated vote about the proposed millage increase.