Tagged: School Levies

Two Clark County school districts had levies defeated by narrow margins on election day.  The Clark-Shawnee and the Tecumseh Local school districts are hoping to see vote totals change by the end of the month when all provisional and absentee ballots are counted.

Voters in the Clark-Shawnee School District rejected a proposed 10-year, 7.59-mill levy that would have raised $2.5 million per year. The levy was defeated by only eight votes.

A handful of school levies make up the ballot in Clark County for Tuesday's May 7 election. One school district is already planning to ask voters to approve a levy in the fall if the district is not successful Tuesday.

Springfield City Schools has a 2.2-mill bond issue on the ballot. If passed it will allow the district to make security and safety improvements without raising tax bills. An old bond issue expires at the end of this year that would cost the homeowner of a $100,000 home approximately $67 a year.

School levies have been notoriously tough to pass in the last several years as voters struggled with an economy that has been slow to recover. Typically, schools that ask for a renewal of an existing levy get it, while schools that want extra money are turned down. This election mostly followed the rule, though many districts were banking on the larger voter turnout of a presidential election.