CHIMACUM — A $34.8 million bond measure to fund renovation and expansion of the Chimacum School district’s buildings and fund construction of an athletic facility was apparently rejected by voters on Tuesday.
The bond measure, which requires a 60 percent supermajority, received a slim majority with 2,033 votes, or 50.88 percent, in favor and 1,963 votes, or 49.12 percent, opposed.
Even if the bond proposal is down, it isn’t out, according to the district superintendent.
“We will analyze this,” said Rich Stewart, moments after the announcement of the initial vote count.
“We will go back to the board to see what people want and didn’t want, and we’ll be back in April.”
March 13 will be the last day to file a resolution for a measure on the April 28 special election ballot.
The bond proposal could be pared down or the prospective improvements divided into two separate measures, Stewart said, but nothing is now certain.
‘This is a worthwhile project,” he said.
“We are not asking for anything beyond what other school districts generally have.”
Former Chimacum School Board member Ted Friedrich, the campaign chairman, said the bond failed because “we didn’t get started early enough” but also because of the taxpayer’s substantial share of the bond.
If approved, the measure would have impose a new tax on property owners by $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, or $375 for a $250,000 home.
“This was a lot of money,” Friedrich said.
“People who own million-dollar houses would pay more than $1,000 per year in additional taxes while people with fixed incomes couldn’t afford the extra $20,” he said.
Stewart said that the schools will examine individual precinct results to determine how and why people voted and tailor the next measure accordingly.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office counted 3,997 ballots out of the 8,508 mailed to district voters, for an election night turnout of 46.98 percent.
As a bond the measure must draw support from at least 60 percent of the voters with the total votes collected required to be at least 40 percent of those cast in the last election.
The district met its validation number of 2,410.
The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office on Tuesday counted 9,738 ballots out of 20,135 mailed to registered voters for all special elections, for a total election night turnout of 48.34 percent.
The office counted all ballots received by Tuesday morning, said Betty Johnson, elections coordinator, who looks for some 800 to 900 more ballots to come in later this week.
The next scheduled count will be by noon Friday, Johnson said, but that could be moved up to Thursday “if any of the races are really close,” she said.
The Chimacum school bond was proposed to fund renovation and expansion of Chimacum Creek Primary School and the district’s main campus, including the auditorium.
It also would have funded construction of a new athletic complex with a stadium, field and track and support other infrastructure improvements with collection scheduled to begin in 2016.
The upgrade of sports facilities would include an all-weather field, concessions, restrooms and storage as well as new tennis courts.
Stewart said construction of an athletic center and a renovated auditorium would allow games to be played at home rather than Port Townsend.
After renovation, the Chimacum Creek Primary School would serve first through fifth grades, with the middle school and high school in the Valley Road location.
Also planned was the removal of 1940s buildings and library and construction of a new middle school library resource center and centralized school administration.
Interest payments over the life of the bond were estimated at $22 million, using a 4.98 percent rate.
Renovations and additions would take two to three years, Stewart said.
The school recently finished gym renovations which were subsidized by a levy voters approved in 2012.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
