A few years ago there was a proposal to build a new elementary school and close the current one – this failed pretty badly
So last year they had a bunch of focus groups and meetings and had another referendum – this failed as well (52/47)
They sent out a survey asking how much folks would be willing to pay. the new referendum passed 68/32.
I was actually surprised the new one was more money ( I thought it was less). I’m guessing the “no” folks were less energized since there wasn’t other races (2651 total votes vs 4649 in 2016)
The city I used to live in passed a referendum as well (75/25 increase of $460/pupil, but it may actually reduce property taxes due to state aid or something)
Though another nearby city’s referendum lost 90/10 (that involved consolidating some schools)
In related news a fried of mine got elected to the school board (In a bigger city – more students than people in my entire county)
In all honesty, I think it’s pretty slimy to put just one question on the ballot in an off off year election, especially one that he failed twice. Are many of the polling stations at schools in your area?
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This was in a school, but I am pretty sure the original referendum was also single issue and in a school. Obviously it wasn’t single issue in 2016 (I didn’t vote in a school, but I think some precincts did)
“Democracy belongs to those who show up”
Yeah - a previous town of residence tried all manner of (IMO) questionable approaches to force referenda through, generally figuring some way to proceed through either voter fatigue or other means (limiting number of classes that could be taken but not affecting sports). This is a significant issue in IL, where we “enjoy” many times more taxing districts than any other state.
I am philosophically opposed to putting school funding ballot issues on for a “special election” when nothing else is on the ballot. However, I’m not going to vote against it for that reason alone. The schools need the money most places.
Like many electoral problems, 100% mail in voting helps alleviate the concern.
Pretty much the same thing happened in the school district where I used to live. There was a ballot measure to raise property taxes for the district in a November election, but this was in California back when all tax increases needed 2/3 support, and it failed by one vote…so the district paid for a special election the following March where it was the only thing on the ballot (and IIRC, they asked for more money, in part to pay for the election), and it passed.