The Benton-Carroll-Salem school board has scheduled a special meeting for Aug. 9 to decide on whether to place another request for millage on the ballot in November.

Voters last week turned down a 3.9-mill, 5-year operating levy that would have generated an additional $1.32 million annually for the Ottawa County school system.

“We’re obviously disappointed in the results,” said Rick Bast, president of the school board. “We’re trying to identify specifically what we need to do for voters to find it more favorable.”

He said the school district hasn’t received additional local levy revenue in about 10 years.

“We asked about five years ago and were declined. So we tightened our belt,” Bast said.

District treasurer Anne Arnold reported to the board last month that the school system ended the fiscal year on June 30 about $35,178 under budget.

She credited a “team effort of the district staff to control expenses.”

Still, expenses exceeded revenues by about $1.7 million, with the deficit being made up from a carry-over from the previous year as planned.

The district has realized a loss of state stabilization funding as well as funding intended to reimburse the district for the loss of tangible personal property tax revenues, she said.

According to unofficial results of the Ottawa County Board of Elections, the levy fell by 138 votes: For – 1,103;  Against – 1,241.

Voter turnout was only 32.4 percent.

Bast said the board hadn’t reviewed the results by precinct but said they would probably be similar to the results of the election in May when an identical levy request was defeated.

The state of the economy was likely a factor in the outcome, he said, noting Ottawa County historically has a high unemployment rate.

Lake back on ballot
The Lake school board will put another levy on the November ballot but with one change from the issue defeated last week.

Board members have decided to not seek approval of a continuing levy but instead have opted for placing a 4.75-mill, 5-year levy on the ballot after receiving complaints from some residents.

Voters Tuesday rejected the 4.75-mill issue by more than 600 votes: For – 600; Against – 1,247, according to unofficial results compiled by the Wood County Board of Elections.

“I had at least two phone calls from people complaining about the ‘continuing” term on the ballot language,” said Jeff Carpenter, district treasurer.

The issue would have raised $1.13 million annually if it passed.

Voter turnout was low, less than 30 percent, prompting school officials to wonder if a more aggressive campaign is needed, Carpenter said.

More people voted against a replacement levy and renewal levy on the November 2010 ballot than voted “no” last week but both issues passed handily, each drawing more than 2,100 supporters.

“The ‘yes’ votes last week were significantly under what we normally get in an election,” Carpenter said.

School officials have been involved with a new high school construction project and tried to stress the levy on last week’s ballot was unrelated to that project.

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