CANTON — A robocall received by some local residents that included the Cherokee County School District’s main telephone number in the message has some people confused as to who made the call and why.

Barbara Jacoby, spokeswoman for the school district, said in a release Monday the district is not responsible for the message that was delivered to residents between Friday and Monday.

The call mentioned school board member Janet Read and claimed she had voted to raise taxes.

But the school system refutes the claims and Read is now considering her options in a possible ethics complaint.

“The message presents misinformation, including the false claim that Cherokee County School Board members have voted to raise taxes for each of the last eight years,” Jacoby said in the release.

The transcribed version of the call states: “Attention conservative voters: Not every candidate calling themselves a Republican is actually a conservative.”

After blasting Read, the message goes on to provide the district’s main line telephone number and says those receiving the message should call the school board vice chair.

The call does not mention any other candidate or official.

Jacoby said the Board of Education has followed all state guidelines regarding the advertising of tax increases and that the county millage rate has only been raised one time within the last eight years.

“Despite this one millage rate increase in 2010, the total tax millage collection that year decreased due to declining property values and, thus, lower property tax bills on average; and the school district’s general fund budget also has decreased,” Jacoby said in the release.

Jacoby said information about the district’s finances is available on its website on the Open Government Project Page.

Read said she was bothered that whoever made the calls would not call her and speak to her about the issues, since her home phone number has been on the CCSD website for the last eight years.

“I’m not surprised that already a smear campaign has started against me, but it is pretty pathetic that somebody wants to hide behind a robocall instead of addressing the issues with me,” Read said.

As for accusations she is not a conservative, Read said her record speaks for itself.

“I consider myself a true conservative,” Read said. “When I voted to increase the millage rate, it was because there were no other options.”

As far as an ethics complaint against the source of the robocall, Read said she is exploring her options and investigating as to what violations may have occurred.

The source of the call has not been identified, as the call does not state its source of funding.