Fountain Hills voters will have a plethora of financial choices to make when they mail in their ballots this fall.

The School Board last week authorized a bond and budget override election, adding two more questions to the Nov. 5 ballot.

Fountain Hills Unified School District is seeking a combined budget override renewal along with an $8 million bond authorization, mostly for capital expenses.

Those two questions will be in addition to the town’s $8.2 million road bond question to be placed before voters.

The town is seeking funds to totally reconstruct and pave the full length of Saguaro Blvd.

FHUSD Superintendent Tom Lawrence assembled a 13-member advisory committee to study financial issues, and one of its major concerns was if the district should schedule its election in conjunction with the town’s bond issue.

“We feel it’s not an either/or proposition,” Jim Dickey, a member of that advisory committee, told the School Board June 12.

“It’s a mutually beneficial effort for everyone to do it this way.”

Besides splitting the cost of the mail-only election, the district hired a consultant to perform a community poll last month.

Some 305 voters were reached by phone, and when they were asked if they would support both the district’s efforts and the town’s road bond, 44 percent said they would.

Another 16 percent said they would only support the district’s initiatives, while nearly 12 percent said they would only vote for the town road bond.

Another 12 percent said they would vote against all the questions, while more than 14 percent were “unsure.”

With separate questions asking about just the school issues, a higher majority said they would support both the overrides and the bond.

“I’m encouraged by the survey results,” said School Board Member Melanie Anderelli. “I think it’s an important finding that many people support both (entities).”

Dickey said he and many other committee members already pledged to form a campaign committee and push for passage of the school financial issues this fall.

Dr. C.T. Wright, board president, concluded, “I hope we can get the message out early that it’s not one against the other.

“I feel we’re in this together, town and district.”

The Town Council authorized the Saguaro Blvd. bond question after a massive $30 million road bond program for reconstruction and maintenance was soundly rejected by voters in late 2011.

Ballots for the fall election will be mailed by Oct. 10 to registered voters.