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Sidney school levy passes by one vote

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By Katherine Ullmer , Staff Writer 3:47 PM Wednesday, December 9, 2009

SIDNEY, Shelby County — The 9.9-mil emergency property levy for the Shelby City Schools has passed by one vote, the Shelby County Board of Elections announced Wednesday, Dec. 9.

The Nov. 3 ballot count had resulted in a 4,451 to 4,451 tie vote, but a misplaced ballot has turned the tide in the school district’s favor.

“It really was a huge victory,” Superintendent Pat O’Donnell said.

The property tax levy went down to defeat three times before and an income tax for the schools was defeated before that, O’Donnell said. The district has made $6.5 million in cuts, implemented a pay-to-play fee of $450 and cut back on busing, with no high school busing at all, he said.

The passage of the levy will bring in $4.5 million over five years and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $303 a year in increased taxes, O’Donnell said. The tax will start in January.

The passage of the levy will bring back busing to those who live beyond 1.3 miles and also return transportation to high school students, he said. The pay-to-play fee will be reduced significantly, he said.

O’Donnell issued a statement saying he appreciated “the hard work and thoroughness of the board of elections throughout this process. As educators we strive to teach children the importance of the voting process and that every vote counts,” he wrote. “This truly is a situation where just one vote determined the future of Sidney City Schools.”

He thanked the “hundreds of dedicated volunteers who worked tirelessly on the levy committees... for their dedication and hard work throughout this process.”

The Shelby County Board of Elections issued a two page statement dated today, Dec. 9, concerning mandatory recounts from the Nov. 3 election regarding both the Sidney City Schools levy and the Jackson Center Council race, both of which had resulted in ties. The council race recount remained a tie and was ultimately decided by “lot” as prescribed in the Ohio Revised Code.

The school levy was a different matter. The board of elections requested to retabulate each and every ballot by a bipartisan team of board employees. The count came out a tie but in the process of reconciling each precinct’s originally certified votes to the votes counted in the recount process, a one vote discrepancy was found.

“In the afternoon of Dec. 8, board employees discovered that one ballot had been misfiled during the hand sorting process leading up to the Nov. 30 recount,” the report said. “This ballot, originally counted on Nov. 3, originated from precinct number 31, Salem West, but was filed with ballots in precinct 34, Van Buren. Because Van Buren precinct voters were not involved with the Sidney City Schools levy, this ballot did not make its way to the Nov. 30 recount, the report said.

The board met in public session Wednesday to amend the Sidney City School District levy recount to include the misfiled ballot, the report said. “To ensure that no other irregularities exist in any other races throughout the whole county, the board voted to proceed with an audit procedure per the Secretary of State’s directive 2008-13. The whole county audit will begin on Monday, Dec. 14,” it said.

“This board jointly takes full responsibility for the process and particularly the unfortunate misfiled ballot,” the report said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2341 or kullmer@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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