The quarterly Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast released Wednesday morning told a story of falling wage strength and increasing prices for the majority of Oregonians.
Ballot results from Tuesday suggested many voters were feeling the pinch.
Five out of 10 school district funding requests were passing as of partial vote counts Wednesday morning. Most of the districts seeking to renew an existing tax level succeeded, while all the ones starting a new bond or levy failed.
County ballots had five bond and five levy measures. School districts use bonds for facility needs, such as major repairs and upgrades or new buildings. Levies can be spent on staffing and programs.
There is a growing divide among Oregon schools between districts that can pass bonds for new buildings or levies for additional staffing and districts that either don’t have a large enough tax base or sufficient community willingness to provide funds to shore up cracking budgets.
Sweet Home appears to have passed a $40 million bond with a $12.3 million matching grant from the Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching Program. Voters were approving by a margin of 56% to 44% a plan to continue its current bond rate so the district can upgrade safety measures and replace some high school buildings.
The Riverdale community was overwhelmingly voting with 63% approval to replace a levy in place since 2000 dedicated to academic enrichment.
Ashland voters also approved a long-standing levy, voting 79% in favor. The levy in place since 2007 provides about 10% of the district’s operational budget.
The Cascade School District was asking for $30 million that came with $10.2 million matching for mostly repair projects. Voters were saying yes in partial returns, with 52% in favor of continuing the current bond rate.
Athena-Weston was seeking a $5 million bond with a $5 million matching grant to replace a 2016 bond so it can build a Career, Trades, Sciences and Technical Education Center. Athena-Weston was winning with 52% approval.
Even recent success wasn’t enough to carry the Seaside School District over the line, though. Seaside passed a levy in 2020 and sought to renew it to hold down class sizes and retain staff and programs. Voters said no with 54% voting against.
All the districts asking for a new bond or levy struck out.
Newberg-Dundee and Canby are both facing budget shortfalls and have already announced layoffs and program cuts. They sought levies to reverse the cuts. Newberg-Dundee, which passed a bond in 2020, was losing with 59% against in its bid for a levy. Canby was losing with 52% against in partial returns.
Brookings-Harbor last passed a bond in 2000. The district says the average age of its buildings is 72 and it needs money for electrical, plumbing, heating, roofing and siding repairs and replacements. Voters were saying no, with 58% against.
Siuslaw, which lost bond campaigns in 2016 and 2018, wanted to replace its high school, which is more than 55 years old. Voters were saying no again, with 64% against.
The Oregon secretary of state’s office will certify final tallies no later than June 25.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
[email protected]
