Split vote on bonds; levy up in the air

One up, one down and one too close to call.

Results from the three Yakima Valley school district elections were decidedly mixed Tuesday.

In the jubilant camp were Sunnyside school leaders because voters overwhelmingly approved an $11.4 million bond.

On the other hand, West Valley School District voters turned thumbs down on their $28 million bond proposal. Initial results show just 48 percent of returned ballots marked “Yes.” A 60 percent approval rate is needed to pass a bond measure.

And in Toppenish, nerves are jittery because a proposed $4.4 million maintenance and operation levy was passing by the slimmest of margins — 559 to 550.

Levies require a simple majority to pass, and Toppenish was sitting at 50.41 percent Tuesday night.

But if the Toppenish result remained unclear, there was no doubt about the West Valley vote. Of the nearly 8,000 ballots returned, 4,045 were marked against the bond proposal, while 3,745 were for it. Ballot counting is expected to resume either today or Thursday.

West Valley Superintendent Peter Ansingh sounded a discouraging note as he monitored returns Tuesday evening at the Yakima County courthouse.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” he said. “Now we’ll go back and try to sort it out. Was it the wrong proposal or the wrong time?”

West Valley was proposing to rebuild two elementary schools, Apple Valley and Summitview.

Both Ansingh and Staci Verbrugge, school board president, mentioned that the weak economy may have influenced the outcome. “My general feeling is in this economy people are worried about their personal budgets,” Verbrugge said. “But we got beaten pretty soundly and that’s disturbing.

“I think voters understand that we’re growing, and we need more schools. I hate to think of more portables.”

Recession, depression, downturn — whatever the economy has been called, it clearly didn’t matter in Sunnyside, where voters overwhelmingly approved a 20-year, $11.4 million bond measure that would allow additions to both Sunnyside High School and Sun Valley Elementary School.

The vote was 1,680 to 761, or nearly 69 percent in favor.

Superintendent Rick Cole said he’s thrilled and grateful.

“On the night of elections you always get nervous,” he admitted. “I’m really honored and happy that the community has supported our students.”

The next step, Cole said, is to assess the bond market and sell the bonds. That’s not expected to be a problem.

The district has been told that people are looking for these kinds of bonds because they’re so stable, he said.

Once the bonds are sold, work at the elementary school could begin this summer, with work at the high school to start the following summer.

While the high school project depends on state matching money, Cole said he’s confident that money will be available.

Even if it’s unavailable, some work will be done at the high school, he said.

Sunnyside School Board member Lorenzo Garza agreed the vote proves the community’s dedication to its schools.

“Anytime someone talks about taxes, people still have double thoughts on voting yes or no for this,” he said. “It was a slight concern on my behalf. I’m very pleased to hear it passed.”

The school district existing tax rate of $1.26 per $1,000 of assessed property value will stay the same.

It could be days before Toppenish learns whether its levy measure has passed. Ballots were mailed to 4,050 voters in the district. As of Tuesday evening, slightly more than 1,100 had been returned.

Despite the close vote, Ron Huylar, co-chair of the levy committee, said he has high hopes the levy will pass.

“We’ll have to wait and see, but I’m still optimistic it will pull through,” he said.

The measure would retain the district’s current tax rate of $2 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The levy money would be matched by $4 million from the state and be used for textbooks, school safety officers, after-school programs and free breakfast and lunch programs for the district’s 3,300 students.

Levy campaign co-chair Tony Galaviz cites the uncertain economy for the narrow voting margin, and admits more could have been done to educate people on the levy’s importance.

“I’m kind of disappointed that the vote margin isn’t big, but it is still a positive vote right now,” he said. “I think it will go forward. If it doesn’t, we’ll regroup and rethink our plans a little bit more.”

In contrast to the Sunnyside and Toppenish proposals that wouldn’t raise taxes, West Valley asked that 22 cents be added to the existing tax rate of $2.01 per $1,000 property value. The state match would have been about $8 million more.

The district pitched the bond as a bargain, getting two new schools for 22 cents more.

But voters weren’t buying.

• Reporters Erin Snelgrove, Leah Beth Ward and Ross Courtney contributed to this report.