Big decisions on ballots in every Mid-Missouri county
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Voters in every Mid-Missouri county will have big decisions to make on April 6.
School districts and city boards in each county are selecting their elected leaders and many of those ballots also include issues related to sales and property tax increases and school bond issues.
In addition to high-profile races for school board, city council and the 45th House District in Columbia, Boone County's ballot includes contested races for the Southern Boone, New Franklin and Hallsville school boards.
Jefferson City voters have big decisions to make in contested races in city council wards 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and for city prosecutor. The Blair Oaks, Russellville, Eugene and Jefferson City school districts will also select board members.
In Callaway County, voters in Fulton will also see contested races for city council and school board. The South Callaway and New Bloomfield districts are also picking two board members.
Ballot issues in each county are broken down below.
AUDRAIN COUNTY
Audrain County is seeking a quarter-cent sales tax over 10 years to replace “small road structures,” maintain bridges and spend on related items.
The Common No. 1 Special Road District of Audrain County also has a tax question on the April 6 ballot, this one asking whether the district should impose a 35-cent property tax levy over four years.
Another issue in Audrain County asks voters whether Central Electric Cooperative should take ownership of electrical transmission lines running from the Vandalia substation to Central’s substation.
Voters in four small cities and villages -- Martinsburg, Farber, Rush Hill and Vandiver -- will decide whether to forgo elections if too few candidates file.
CENTRALIA USE TAX, TERM LENGTH CHANGE
The city of Centralia is seeking a 2.5-cent use tax that will match the local sales tax rate. The tax would apply to purchases made outside the city. The ballot measure says a use tax return will not be required from people whose out-of-state purchases total less than $2,000 in a year.
Centralia voters will also decide whether to extend the mayor’s term from two years to three years.
SOUTHERN BOONE SCHOOL DISTRICT
The district is asking for permission to borrow $7.7 million by selling bonds for uses that include constructing an addition on the middle school campus that will have a media center, offices and science, family and consumer science and woodworking classrooms. The bond money will also pay for upgrades to existing buildings on the middle school campus, building more classroom space and upgrading safety and security at the middle school.
Southern Boone’s debt service levy of $1.68 per $100 of value will remain unchanged if the measure passes.
BOONE FIRE PROTECTION BOND ISSUE
The Boone County Fire Protection District is asking voters for permission to borrow $6 million in bonds for a variety of purposes.
Nearly $4.8 million of the funds will go to buy new trucks -- five fire engines, four tankers and five new brush trucks. The $1.2 million that remains will pay for land acquisition and designing two new stations. The money will also pay for an addition to a third station.
The district said its debt levy will remain the same if the bond issue passes, meaning property taxes will not increase or decrease.
CHARITON COUNTY
The Keytesville School District wants to borrow nearly $2.5 million in bond funding to improve schools including heating and air conditioning updates, agriculture shop renovation and other remodeling projects. The district said the bond issue will increase the debt levy to 33 cents per $100 of value.
COLE COUNTY
Cole County’s capital improvement sales tax is up for a five-year extension. Proposition A asks county voters to choose whether to extend the sales tax to pay for construction of new roads and bridges, rehabbing existing roads and bridges and paving gravel roads, among other uses. The county sales tax rate, including the capital improvement tax, is 5.725%.
COOPER COUNTY
The Boonville School District wants to borrow $4 million in bonds to repair roofs, upgrade ventilation systems, improve safety and technology, renovate buildings and repair masonry. The district says the debt service levy would remain the same at $1.0699 per $100 of assessed value.
The Blackwater School District is asking to increase its operating tax levy by $1.50 per $100 of assessed value to increase pay and pay for other operational needs. The district plans to increase the levy by 75 cents each of the next two years.
The Tipton School District also wants permission to borrow money to pay for repairs and upgrades on campus. The district is asking to borrow $2.5 million in bonds to pay for replacing heating and air conditioning, improving access for disabled people, replacing and repairing the electrical system and improving safety and security.
Leaders in Pilot Grove have put two tax questions before voters -- whether to extend a half-cent transportation sales tax for five years and whether to extend a half-cent capital improvements sales tax for five years. Pilot Grove voters will also decide whether to forgo elections that don’t have enough candidates.
HOWARD COUNTY
Voters in the Armstrong and Glasgow special road districts will decide whether to continue their 35-cent property tax rate for four more years.
MARIES COUNTY
The city of Vienna is asking voters to OK a half-cent sales tax to fund public safety.
MILLER COUNTY
Miller County is asking for a three-eighths-cent sales tax that would fund law enforcement. According to the ballot language, the money raised from the new tax would go toward operating and capital improvements costs. The tax would be in place for 20 years.
Voters in Iberia will see a question on their ballots asking for a 1-cent sales tax for public safety costs.
The city of Lake Ozark has two questions on the ballot, asking voters whether terms for mayor and alderman should be set at four years and until a successor is “elected and qualified.”
MONITEAU COUNTY
The cities of Clarksburg and Jameston are asking voters whether they should forgo municipal elections when not enough candidates have filed to have a contested race.
The Russellville Lohman Fire Protection District has put a question on the ballot to add 27 cents per $100 of value to the district property tax levy.
The High Point School District is asking voters whether to keep its current property tax operating levy of 29.17 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The Tipton School District is asking for $2.5 million in bonds to pay for replacing heating and air conditioning equipment, improving disability access, electrical system repairs and upgrades and safety and security improvements. The district’s debt service levy would stay at $1.08 per $100 of assessed value.
The Boonville School District wants to borrow $4 million in bonds to repair roofs, upgrade ventilation systems, improve safety and technology, renovate buildings and repair masonry. The district says the debt service levy would remain the same at $1.0699 per $100 of assessed value.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
The Jonesburg-High Hill Fire Protection District is asking voters for permission to levy a property tax of up to 15 cents per $100 of assessed value to pay for district operations.
The Silex School District wants to borrow $5 million in bonds to improve security and safety, to build six new classrooms, to pave driveways and parking lots, renovate the old gymnasium and for other projects. The district’s debt service rate would stay unchanged at 96.29 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The Lincoln County R-III School District hopes to increase its operating levy to 21.85 cents per $100 of assessed value. The increase would peg the district’s overall tax rate at $3.50 per $100 of assessed value.
MORGAN COUNTY
The village of Sunrise Beach is asking voters if it can forgo elections where there is no contested race.
The Tipton School District is asking for $2.5 million in bonds to pay for replacing heating and air conditioning equipment, improving disability access, electrical system repairs and upgrades and safety and security improvements. The district’s debt service levy would stay at $1.08 per $100 of assessed value.
OSAGE COUNTY
The city of Linn is asking voters to add three quarters of a cent to its sales tax rate, which currently stands at 7.975%. The extra money would be dedicated to roads and public safety.
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Randolph County voters will decide whether to add 16 cents per $100 of assessed value to the county’s property tax levy. The money would go toward roads and bridges.
The Moberly School District wants to borrow $17 million in bonds to build an early childhood center and an alternative school, along with other improvements. The district’s debt service levy would stay at $1.4423 per $100 assessed value. The district also hopes voters will approve a 30-cent increase to its property tax levy for operating expenses. The ballot language says the increase would be accompanied by an equivalent decrease in the debt service levy, leaving the overall tax rate of $4.7379 per $100 assessed value unchanged.
The Southeastern Randolph Fire Protection District wants to borrow $610,000 in bonds to buy and equip a firetruck and pay for other needs.
The Westran Fire Protection District wants to raise $2.86 million through bond borrowing to buy equipment the district is now leasing.
