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Show ' Voters say 4No' to leeway ) North county voters outweigh Orem to defeat tax "The people initiated the election and the voters have spoken. We will abide by their decision. The needs (of the district) were real. They were not fabricated and they still exist." Although the trend was set early in the evening, officials expressed surprise and pleasure at the number of voters who turned out at the polls. Twice as many residents voted this time than did when the district asked for a 3 mill leeway increase in May of 1985. Then only 13 percent of the voters I ,ers in the Alpine School nslrict gave a resounding "no" to "Woners asking for a property tax : jse lo increase funds for the school Let last week. , N'early 28 percent of district ;dents went to the polls in the 24 election. L The unofficial tabulation of votes jioiied 7,461 "no" votes and 5,675 ves"cast. ; '"We have just seen democracy in An," Dr. Richard R. Sudweeks, eari) chairman, said as he watched Ihe vote totals posted. cast their ballot. The leeway was defeated then too. Citizens began working to obtain necessary names for the vote petition immediately after. Tuesday, 27.52 percent of the 47,735 registered voters voiced their opinion on the issue, which would have given members of the district board of education the power to raise taxes by up to four mills for a 10-year period and would have made the district eligible for state equalization funds -- funds they don't now receive. m r :m I H i I li jl , ' Str mm . ! It - : " i ; ' 'V : If approved, the funds were specifically ear-marked for textbooks, text-books, equipment, building maintenance main-tenance and teacher aides. District officials noted the voted leeway passed by a narrow margin in the Orem area -- about 400 votes -but it wasn't enough to make up for the negative lead in the northern county. Dr. Sudweeks said it was gratifying to see "that there was a much higher voter turn out this year than last, but still there are three people who stayed home for every one that voted." He said the district will "make do with what we have. We already spend less per child than any district in the state but will try to do what we can with the resources available. "The opponents of this election have assured us that the governor and state legislature will raise taxes. We will be interested to see if they can deliver on that promise. "I think as a result of the democratic process that the citizens of the district are better informed of the needs of the schools, and that is a positive result. "Our kids are getting a good education - but not as good as it ought to be if we were really committed," com-mitted," Dr. Sudweeks said. "Apparently people feel their taxes are too high," said Dr. Clark L. Cox, district superintendent. "We'll just have to continue to tighten our belts and operate with the funds we have." Looking at the percentages of the vote, he said he didn't feel the senior citizen vote -- blamed for the defeat of the 1985 leeway vote - played a big part in the outcome of this election, but rather that citizens were saying property taxes are too high. He also felt the depressed v economy in- the area because of the presenl situation at USX's Geneva Works and feeder industries affected af-fected affected by the work stoppage played a big part in the vote result. "With our depressed economy in Utah County, people are very concerned about the tenuousness of the employment situation, particularly par-ticularly Geneva Steel and its long-range long-range effects," he said. Alpine District Clerk-Treasurer Charles Lloyd accepts ballot count from election judge Tuesday night as Leeway votes are tallied. - y District by District Election Results 1 Alpine School District Leeway Vote 100 Pleasant Grove and Lindon so Voter Turnout 29.3 80 Against 75 n ; ? 70 Against Against Against 60 H i n rf W M 50 I J j t For For I 43 For E j 40 39 35 II m m :v::: I m xS 30 M I j For ! m I ! W ii '25 :& ; . ill $ 20 . m m ) m I Lindon PI. Grove PI. Grove , PI. Grove f (1,2,3,4) (2,3,7,9,11,13) (1,12,14) (4,5,6,8,10) Lindon Elem. Grovecrest Manila Elem. Valley View "People just don't know what to expect." Officials said although they were disappointed in the vote, they were pleased with the high-rate of voter turnout. "Interest generated by the media and by the various Public Involvement In-volvement Councils, PTA's, and other groups showed up at the 1 polls," Dr.Gox said: He said he felt there was a lot more conlroversary in the 1985 leeway election. "This year's campaign hasn't been a negative one. Lots more people have known about it (than the last election). The leeway is believed the first time in the district - if not the state -when parents themselves initiated a vote to raise property taxes for district schools. Members of the district's Public Involvement Council started a petition shortly after the last leeway failed and collected enough signatures to have the issue put on the ballot. . The petition stipulated how ihe money raised would be used and f :r . how long it could. lie assessed. C. Ray Graham, chairman of the PIC and leader of the leeway campaign, said if he had it to do over again, he would do it. "There is a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing I did what I could do. I thought there would be enough people who were concerned about their children that they would vote for it," he said. |
