The Mid-Prairie bond referendum failed on Tuesday, March 1, falling short by about 41 total votes. 1,044 voters from the school district cast ballots in the bond issue election …
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The Mid-Prairie bond referendum failed on Tuesday, March 1, falling short by about 41 total votes. 1,044 voters from the school district cast ballots in the bond issue election with about 56% voting to approve both public measures. 60% approval was needed for the bond issue to pass.
If passed, the bond issue would have raised taxes in the district by 60 cents per $1,000 of valuation, allowing the district to construct and improve the district’s facilities by building an auditorium, additional classroom space, parking lot improvements and other facilities plans.
Ballot measure A (for general obligation bonds) failed with 585 voting yes and 459 voting no, and ballot measure B (for raising the tax levy) failed with 580 voting yes and 463 voting no.
In Washington County, public measure A ended 502-370. In Johnson County, public measure A ended 74-68 and in Iowa County, it ended 9-21. In Washington County, public measure B ended 494-376. In Johnson County, public measure B ended 77-66 and in Iowa County, it ended 9-21.
“To me, it just shows that the system works — the community has shown their preference for what they’d like to see done,” said Mid-Prairie Superintendent Mark Schneider. “I am heartened by the fact that over 55% of the voters saw value in the bond issue, so I think all of the people that were involved in the process can take heart in that.”
Schneider added that the district still has needs that must be met and that the school board will meet to discuss the results of the bond issue and options going forward.
“I want to thank the facilities committee that met for two years and did a thorough job of investigating the needs of the district,” Schneider said. “I also want to thank the school board for all the work they did; they took the facilities committee’s recommendations and discussed and evaluated them for about nine months of the year to put the bond issue in front of the community.”
The next state-approved election date is Sept. 13, when the district could possibly put the bond issue in front of voters again.
