Ballots returned: Colton school proposal nets strong response

Two-hundred and fifty-five ballots have been received as of Tuesday from Colton/Uniontown voters on the proposal to overhaul the Colton school building, according to the auditor’s elections staff.

A 60 percent majority vote will be needed to pass the $5.1 million 20-year bond proposal. The project will include a $5.86 million match from the state.

Deadline for return of the ballots is Nov. 2. There are 717 active voters and 36 inactive voters in the school district as of Oct. 26.

A strained electrical and worn heating system are among reasons the school administration is asking to remodel the 1939 building, which was last modified in 1963.

The school administration has conducted a series of meetings pitching the proposal to the public over the past two months.

As the valuation numbers stand now, the $5.1 million bond would cost taxpayers an extra $3.23 per $1,000 of assessed value on a home.

Voters of the Lewiston school district in mid-October voted down a proposal for a $52 million construction bond of a new Lewiston High School building. Under Idaho law, a 66.6 percent majority vote is needed to pass. The proposal received 61.84 percent yes votes.

At a public meeting discussing the Colton district proposal Oct. 3, some Colton/Uniontown taxpayers were concerned the measure would hike property taxes for a district already paying high taxes.

Uniontown taxpayers paid an average of $11.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2010. In comparison, Colton paid $12.50.

Palouse paid $12.90 and Colfax paid $13.40 per $1,000.

Taxpayers at the meeting also mentioned Uniontown voters are already faced with the cost of the construction of the three town lagoons. That project is being paid for with a $2.08 million forgivable loan from the Department of Ecology (DOE) and a $216,000 regular loan.

DOE spokesman Cynthia Wall said payments for Uniontown’s $216,000 loan will be generated from sewer bill revenue, not property taxes as some voters have feared.

Repayment of the $216,000 loan can only come from city sewer accounts, Wall said.

Uniontown has increased utility rates annually by four percent, and City Clerk Cheryl Waller said she doesn’t yet know if rates will need to be raised higher than four percent for the coming year to pay for the lagoons.

A public hearing on Uniontown rates will be conducted at the end of the year.