QUILCENE — The approval percentage for a $12.3 million bond measure for the Quilcene School District was little more than 49 with more than 50 percent rejecting it, the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office reported after the first count of ballots Tuesday night.
A bond requires a 60 percent supermajority to pass.
The measure — which had failed by five votes in February, eliciting an approval percentage of 59.37 — achieved 385 votes in favor and 397 votes opposed in Tuesday’s first count, losing 50.77 percent to 49.23 percent.
The Auditor’s Office counted 782 ballots Tuesday night for a voter turnout of 48 percent of the 1,629 registered voters who received ballots. The office had 49 ballots left on hand. More may come in to the office through the mail on Wednesday when another count is scheduled by 4 p.m. Certification will be on May 6.
The bond measure was proposed to replace the elementary school, build a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) facility and make improvements to the athletic fields.
The bond would have been repaid from annual property taxes over the next 20 years at $1.74 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, the same amount district property owners are paying now for a capital levy. Collection of taxes to repay the bond would not begin until the levy expires.
The proposal lacked sufficient detail about specific costs and oversight and contained “frills,” said Robert Sorenson, who wrote the argument opposing the measure in the ballot pamphlet issued by the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office.
Former County Commissioner Katherine Kler, who wrote the “pro” argument for the voter pamphlet, said the elementary school “has been rated structurally unsafe, and requires a seismic upgrade.” It racks up high costs for heating, and its outdated electrical wiring means that standard technology cannot be used, Kler said.
She also said vocational classes are crammed into the old bus barn and the sports fields need thorough upgrades to keep them playable.
Jim Buck of Joyce, former representative of the state’s 24th Legislative District, focused on the seismic upgrade needed for the school.
Buck, who has focused on earthquake preparedness for the past 14 years, said in a letter to Kler, that the 2019-2021 State School Seismic Safety Project Final Report found an 85 percent chance that a 6.7-magnitude quake could hit Quilcene and that, if that happened, all three Quilcene School buildings would collapse.
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
