Preliminary results are in for the February special election as two school levies in North Clark County districts have leads geared toward approval, while a levy and bond are trailing behind in numbers
As of the 8 p.m. deadline for the election on Feb. 8, replacement levies for the Green Mountain and Hockinson school districts had the majority of voters in favor after the first count of ballots.
The Green Mountain School levy, projected to be $1.99 per $1,000 of assessed value on properties, had 112 votes, or about 57.1% in favor, while 84 people voted against it. If approved, the replacement levy would be slightly higher than the current $1.90 per $1,000 levy set to expire at the end of the year.
The Hockinson School District levy had a slimmer lead percentage-wise as of the first count, with 1,153 votes, or 52.1% in favor, and 1,060 ballots in opposition. Hockinson’s replacement levy is expected to cost $1.89 per $1,000 of assessed value, or 39 cents more than the current $1.50 per $1,000 levy that is set to expire.
While two district levies currently have leads, La Center School District’s replacement levy was trailing in the preliminary results. In the Feb. 8 count, the levy had 905 votes, or about 46% in support of the measure, and 1,072 in opposition. If approved, the replacement would cost about the same as the current $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value of the measure set to expire.
All of those measures on the ballot would replace levies which make up between 10-15% of each district’s operating budget.
Ridgefield School District’s roughly $62.6 million construction bond saw the majority of voters in support, but numbers landed below the required 60% approval as of the first count of ballots. On Feb. 8, the measure had 3,669 votes, or about 57.3% in favor, while 2,733 people voted against the measure. If approved, the bond is projected to cost district property owners 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The bond would fund construction of a new middle school and an expansion at Ridgefield High School.
Clark County Elections estimates there are still about a third of ballots left to be counted. Based on the 37,246 ballots already counted, the election — which also includes ballot measures in Vancouver and the Evergreen School District — so far has seen a 21.3% voter turnout in the county.
