By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
A school-bond measure in Seneca passed in Tuesday’s election, while school-bond proposals in Neosho and Jasper failed, according to complete but unofficial returns.
Each proposal needed a four-sevenths majority, or about 57.1 percent, for passage.
The Seneca School District was asking voters to approve a $10 million bond issue for construction of a 39,800-square-foot intermediate school and for additions to the existing high school.
The proposal passed with 2,287 votes in favor, compared with 1,537 against, according to the Newton and McDonald county clerks’ offices.
It was the third time in two years that the school district had sought a bond issue to address what officials say is an acute overcrowding problem, particularly at the elementary level.
Superintendent Rick Cook said supporters had spent a lot of time, including surveys, devising a proposal that would secure the support of a super-majority of voters in the district. Last weekend, supporters fanned out and canvassed houses throughout the district.
“I’m just thrilled for our community and our school district,” Cook said of Tuesday’s outcome.
The new intermediate school will be built next to the existing elementary school. School officials had said surveys showed most voters wanted the new building to be constructed in the heart of Seneca.
The additions to the high school will house a new library and media center, a new cafeteria-commons area, and a new gymnasium-auditorium.
Seneca’s bond proposal carried an 85-cent levy hike that would mean an annual tax increase of $161.50 on a $100,000 house in Seneca. The district’s current levy stands at $2.75 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a $100,000 house pays $522.50 a year in taxes at that rate.
Seneca’s issue was the lone school-bond measure to pass Tuesday in Jasper and Newton counties.
The Neosho School District had proposed a $16 million issue for construction of a 100,000-square-foot building for grades five and six, and for expansions and renovations to the fine-arts wing, weight room and athletic-storage area at the high school.
Neosho’s proposal was soundly defeated, finishing with 4,433 votes in favor and 5,975 against in Newton and McDonald counties.
Had it been approved, the bond measure would have raised the Neosho School District’s total property levy from $3.11 to $3.47 per $100 of assessed valuation. The plan would raise the annual tax on a $100,000 house from $590.90 per year to $659.30.
Efforts to reach Superintendent Richard Page for comment Tuesday night were unsuccessful.
A bond issue proposed by the Jasper R-5 School District secured a majority of votes but fell short of the super-majority needed to win, according to returns from the Jasper and Barton County clerks’ offices. The measure secured 819 votes in favor and 752 votes against in the two counties.
The school district asked voters to approve a $4.7 million bond issue to build new high-school classrooms, a gymnasium and a cafeteria.
The proposal called for a levy increase of almost $1, from $3.21 per $100 of assessed valuation to a maximum of $4.19. The annual school-tax bill on a home with a $100,000 market value would have increased about $186 from $609.90 now, district officials have said.
