Proposition Walnut Grove fails by less than 50 votes

Proposition Walnut Grove, a ballot initiative which asked Walnut Grove voters to approve a tax levy of $1.07 per $100 of assessed value to provide funding for the Walnut Grove R-V School District, failed in the election held Tuesday, Nov. 5 by just under 50 votes.
Unofficial records posted on the Greene County Clerk’s website shows 236 people voted for the initiative, about 45-percent of the voters, while 283, or 55-percent, voted against it.
If the issue had passed, the levy would have raised property taxes in Walnut Grove from $3.8827 per $100 of assessed value to $4.9527, starting in 2020 and continuing through 2040.

Language on the ballot stated the funds generated through the tax levy would have been used “for the implementation of safety and security measures district-wide; the site development, construction, renovation, equipping and furnishing of new elementary school classrooms and administration offices; the development of a new drop-off/pick-up lane; the replacement of mechanical systems; and the completion of other remodeling and repair improvements to existing facilities.”
An e-mail requesting a comment was sent to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Adam Willard; no reply had been received as of press time.