Voters reject Dundee school proposals

DUNDEE--Dundee school district voters overwhelmingly rejected three capital project proposals Nov. 10 that represented a $29.5 million capital project.
A total of 624 voters cast ballots, Superintendent Kelly Houck said. She gave the voting breakdown as follows:
• Proposition 1 - Yes, 164; no, 460. It involved a $28 million project to complete renovations to the district's main building and bus garage. The local share for this project would have been 12.28 percent.
• Proposition 2 - Yes, 121; no, 496. That involved renovation of the district's current tennis courts into "multi-purpose courts," a $1 million project that was not expected to receive state aid.
• Proposition 3 - Yes, 163; no, 452. That project was proposed stadium lighting for the track and field at a cost of $550,000. It also was not expected to receive any state aid. However, the district would have received a $250,000 donation for the project from the estate of a former Dundee alum if the proposition had passed. Propositions 2 and 3 were both contingent on the first proposition passing.
Houck said voters have clearly informed her and the board that the current propositions and what was involved in each of them wasn't something that they would support at this time.
"We were very grateful for the amount of voters that came out," she said. "I think that really shows that the entire community really weighed in on this decision, and so we were very happy with the turnout that did respond to vote."
Houck said the election results give her and the board some information they can work with in deciding what to do next.
"Now we can decide on how to move forward if we want to, rework the propositions if we want to." They may separate everything that was involved and possibly put Proposition 1 up for a revote with some different options included for the community to vote on, she said.
The facilities vote will be a likely topic of discussion when board members meet beginning at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 in the district's public meeting room. Voters were asked to provide suggestions in a suggestion box, so those comments will likely be reviewed as well, she said, noting she hopes the public would also attend that meeting and share any additional comments.
"We're always looking for ideas on how to improve and to make sure that we have everyone's voice accounted for," Houck said.
If all three propositions had been approved, it could have amounted to an increase of $1.17 per $1,000 of assessed value for taxpayers. For a $100,000 house, that would have been an additional $115.98 over 15 years.
"If I had to surmise, I think it really was about tax impact, and I understand that," Houck said. "That's why it could set us up now to take this information and really figure out how to move forward, based on what the community shared with us regarding the voting."