Riverside levy request deadlocked; Deer Park's sailing through

April 18, 2012

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Updated April 19
Riverside School District officials will have to hold their breath until their maintenance and operations levy is certified on April 27.
The measure is currently deadlocked at 2,135-2,135 after a second day of vote tabulations.
A similar levy request failed in February. To help make a second try more palatable for voters, the Riverside School Board lowered the levy’s assessment rate from $3,90 per $1,000 to $3.42.
If the levy request fails, the school district cannot run another levy election until next year. In the interim, they will have to trim the budget to make up for the revenue generated from levy assessments.
While Riverside officials must play the wait-and-see game, Deer Park School District officials were pleased with the results from their second M&O levy election.
Voters overwhelmingly approved a three-year maintenance and operations levy request.
The measure, which will generate about $2 million a year (along with an equal amount in matching state funds) was leading by a 2,195-1,579 count in the second round of ballot tabulations on April 17. A simple majority was needed for passage.
The first levy request narrowly failed on Feb. 14.
The Loon Lake School District’s $226,000 annual M&O levy request leads 370-195 after the April 17 ballot count.