2018 VOTING RESULTS

Voters approve increase in ambulance tax levy

Ozark County voters on April 3 approved a proposal by the Ozark County Ambulance District to reset the district’s current levy rate of .1242 cents per $100 of assessed valuation up to a maximum of 28 cents per $100 assessed valuation starting in the current tax year.
The measure was passed by 68 votes. According to the official results, 548 votes were cast for the proposed increase and 480 voted against it. A simple majority was required.  
Here’s how Ozark County’s 11 precincts (with absentee ballots counted as a precinct) voted on the proposed increase in the ambulance district tax levy: Barren Fork: 32 yes, 60 no; Bayou: 48 yes, 86 no; Big Creek: 65 yes, 45 no; Bridges: 189 yes, 135 no; Dawt: 28 yes, 16 no; Jackson: 8 yes, 12 no; Lick Creek: 27 yes, 11 no; Pontiac: 37 yes, 24 no; Richland: 55 yes, 50 no; Thornfield: 14 yes, 19 no; absentee: 45 yes; 22 no.
Ambulance district administrator Eddie Delp said on election night, “On behalf of the board of directors of the Ozark County Ambulance District, I would like to thank the citizens of Ozark Country who supported us. Thanks to you, we will be able to continue to provide the best possible emergency medical service system.”
This is the second time in a year that a proposed increase in the tax supporting the ambulance district was put before the voters. In April 2017 another proposed increase in the ambulance tax levy was turned down by 98 votes: 530 against and 432 in favor. That request asked voters to authorize resetting the then-current maximum levy of .123 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to a maximum of 30 cents per $100, with the rate increase being subject to a corresponding rollback in the current half-cent sales tax that supports the district, as required by law.
In an interview with the Times in February, ambulance district administrator Eddie Delp reminded voters again that, if the levy reset was approved, the actual property tax collected would be reduced proportionately depending on the amount of sales tax collected. An existing half-cent sales tax helps fund the ambulance district, and the county “takes the total dollars of sales tax collected and deducts that amount from the property tax to be collected,” Delp said.
He has said that the complicated funding system, which includes the “sales-tax rollback,” has made  it hard to get a levy increase passed because the required language makes it seem like the total levy is more than doubling, when in fact it’s not.

Dora voters approve resetting school levy with .10 increase

Dora residents voted April 4 to approve a request to renew the Dora School District’s current tax levy with a .10 increase, with 93 voting for the measure and 43 voting against it (68.4 percent for, 31.6 percent against).
Superintendent Steve Richards told the Times on election night, “We’re very excited that we can continue the amount of funding we normally receive from the state through the Small Schools Grant. We feel like we’ve made a lot of improvements and added technology and textbooks for our students, and we’ve been working on the salary schedule. With the approval of this levy, we can continue to improve all facets of the school district. Thanks to our voters for approving this measure.”
In a March 7 story in the Times, Richards said approving the operating levy increase carried extra importance because it brings the district’s levy back to the 3.43 level where it qualifies for the state’s Small Schools Grant, which provides an additional $120,000 to the school’s budget each year. With its debt service added the total levy is $3.61.
Richards said that for all but one of the years since Dora voters passed a school operating levy ceiling of 3.43 in 2006, the school’s levy has continued at or near that level, qualifying it for the Small Schools Grant each year.
However, in 2017, the county’s total assessed valuation increased from about $109 million in 2016 to about $115 million due to requirements from the state that applied to the assessor’s office. As a result of that increase in the county’s total assessed valuation, Dora’s share of the total valuation also increased – from around $15 million to $17 million. That increase in valuation meant the school’s tax rate went down to 3.329 – which meant it would no longer qualify for the Small Schools Grant unless voters approved the proposed increase.

Some new faces on school boards in Dora, Lutie and Thornfield where no election was required

Two three-year positions were up for election Tuesday on all five Ozark County School districts, but school board elections were held only in Bakersfield and Gainesville, where the number of candidates exceeded the number of terms expiring. Missouri law allows government entities to skip elections when the number of candidates equals the number of terms expiring, as was the case in Dora, Lutie and Thornfield.
Dora: Two seats, those currently held by Robert Lee and Terry Martin, were expiring. Both incumbents filed for re-election. Because the number of candidates equaled the number of vacancies, no election was required.
Lutie: Two three-year terms were expiring, the seats currently held by Carl Kruger and Jan Conklin. Kruger filed for re-election; Conklin did not. Ric Engelhardt also filed. Because the number of candidates equaled the number of vacancies, no election was required.
Thornfield: Two three-year terms were expiring, the seats currently held by Darrin Clayton and Jerry Donley. Clayton filed for re-election; Donley did not. Greg Prock also filed. Because the number of candidates equaled the number of vacancies, no election was required.