The final results are in for the Measure A parcel tax election and it passed by a scant 57 votes out of nearly 10,000 total votes cast. That’s an even narrower margin than the preliminary tally on Tuesday, when there were only 83 more Yes votes than needed to achieve the required two-thirds (66.7%) favorable vote. The final percentage of votes approving an annual $228 property tax for five years to go entirely to the Arcadia School District was 67.24%, or about 6,700 Yes votes.
Surprisingly to most proponents, less than the required two-thirds of the hundreds of final ballots submitted by hand (rather than by mail) on Tuesday were Yes votes, despite supporters working for hours up until the final minute calling voters who had previously indicated they would vote yes but had not yet submitted their ballots, and encouraging them to do so.
The election, the first all mail-only ballot election with no polling place on election day, drew a strong 35% of registered voters, a similar turnout to the Measure I quarter-billion dollar school bond election with traditional polling places a few years ago, and about 50% greater than typical participation during past traditional City Council elections. The first all-mail Council election began this week and ends on April 10.
Approval of Measure A will generate about $3.4 million in bottom line revenue for the school district starting as early as this fall, still only about half the projected district deficit, but enough to potentially avoid teacher layoffs and possibly restore a week of school days that had been cut this year to save money, including two furlough days today (Friday)and Monday. The school board will soon incorporate the $3.4 million into a budget that will have to be set without knowing how much money the district will have to work with pending the outcome of Governor Brown’s proposed tax on the ballot this November.
— By Scott Hettrick