Originally published in the 5/5/17 print edition of Yellowstone County News. Check Yellowstone County News for full article by subscribing.
Squeaker school elections shot down some mill levy requests and approved others throughout the county on May 2. Some are still undetermined.
Lockwood Superintendent Tobin Novasio said that he was “very disappointed” with their very close 13-vote loss. Lockwood voters, by a total of 891 votes to 878 votes, turned down an 11.1 mill increase request from Lockwood trustees that would have generated $268,080.
Independent School’s mill levy vote was locked in a tie at 470 to 470 at press time. An election canvass, recount and review of six or seven provisional ballots next week could tilt the results in either direction. Provisional ballots are ballots that were set aside because of some problem, such as not having been signed. Voters were given until the end of the day on Wednesday to go into the elections office and sign the ballots.
Lockwood District had 30 provisional ballots, the outcome of which has the potential of changing the election outcome, but Novasio was not optimistic about that possibility.
If at the end of the day the Independent School remains a tie, it means the levy failed.
Broadview School District passed its mill levy request in a 151-77 vote, and so did Custer, 88 to 68.
Canyon Creek asked for a tech levy, which failed 274 to 359.
Laurel’s mill levy requests also failed. The elementary levy failed 1,865 to 1,236; and the high school levy failed 1,832 to 1,157.
The results were split for Billings School District 2, where the elementary levy request passed and the high school levy failed, both by narrow margins. The elementary levy passed 15,152 to 14,635 and the high school levy failed 17,597 to 17,951.
Novasio said that he believed that if the Lockwood voters were not included in the SD2 high school levy, it would… Read full story in Yellowstone County News 5/5/17 print edition or subscribe for online edition.