PORT TOWNSEND — A proposed $29.1 million construction bond measure for Chimacum School District missed 60 percent approval by 43 votes after a third count of ballots today.
Forty-three is the number of “no” votes that, had they been “yes,” would have given the proposed bond its required 60 percent supermajority.
To reach 60 percent of the total vote, 110 more votes of approval of the bond would need to be added to the present tally, said Betty Johnson, Jefferson County elections supervisor.
Today’s count of votes received in Tuesday’s election showed 3,290 votes in favor, or 59.22 percent, to 2,226 votes, or 40.78 percent opposed.
This reflects a change of 0.10 percent from Wednesday’s count of 3,244 votes in favor, or 59.12 percent, to 2,243 votes, or 40.88 percent opposed.
A fourth count of ballots in Tuesday’s special election will be done Friday if enough come in, Johnson said.
The Auditor’s Office has on hand 65 challenged ballots from the Chimacum School District.
Ballots are challenged when they lack signatures or have other problems.
Challenged ballots can be corrected up to 4:30 p.m. May 5 — next Thursday — which is one day before the election is certified next Friday.
If 45 or more ballots come in the mail by Friday morning, then a fourth count will be done, Johnson said, because if all were in favor of the bond, they would equal 110 votes.
A provision for automatic recounts does not apply to local issues such as levies or bonds, Johnson said. It applies only to statewide ballot measures.
However, recounts can be requested up to two business days after the election is certified.
Those who request a recount pay 15 cents a ballot for a machine recount or 25 cents a ballot for a manual recount.
On Thursday, Rick Thompson, district superintendent, said he hopes the measure will pass while acknowledging “we still have a bit of the uphill battle.”
He said the district hasn’t planned a strategy and has not decided whether to file a request for a recount by May 10.
Thompson said he would present alternatives at the next school board meeting at 6 p.m. May 11 in the Chimacum High School Library, 90 West Valley Road.
Most of the bond money, $19.8 million, would have paid for an expansion of the Chimacum Creek Primary School, which was built in 1999.
The kindergarten-through-third-grade-school would have been expanded into a full kindergarten-through-fifth-grade elementary school.
The rest of the money would have been used for upgrades at the main campus, while the current elementary school, a 1948 building in disrepair, would have been demolished.
The measure proposed a property tax levy rate of $1.21 per $1,000 assessed property value. It would have been expected to be required for 20 years to finance the bond.
The annual property tax for a $150,000 property would have increased by $189, district officials have said.
This was the second apparent defeat for the $29.1 million construction bond to be used for new elementary school construction and capital improvements.
A $34.8 million bond question was defeated in February 2015, getting a slim majority but falling short of the required 60 percent supermajority.
After obtaining public input through several public meetings, the school district scaled down the proposal and asked voters to approve a $29.1 million bond on Feb. 6.
That received 58.04 percent approval.
The proposal was unchanged in Tuesday’s third attempt to use the momentum gained during the February try.
An emergency medical services levy for the Quilcene Fire Department, which also was on Tuesday’s ballot, has been approved by more than 74 percent of the vote.
The six-year levy won by 607 votes, or 74.85 percent, to 204 votes, or 25.15 percent, after today’s count.
As a first-time levy, it required 60 percent voter approval, while a renewal will need only 50 percent.
