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Published: 11/3/2009 | Updated: 11/11/2009
Voters in Clark County, Mo., rejected a sales tax and bond issue during Tuesday's election to replace the 138-year-old courthouse in Kahoka.
In Ralls County, the R-2 School District got approval to issue $1.45 million in bonds for construction and improvements to school buildings. The Ralls County Water Supply District also got permission to issue $4 million in revenue bonds for improvements to the water district.
The Clark County Courthouse sales tax issue fell with 648 in favor and 860 opposed. The half-cent sales tax would have financed the construction and furnishing of a new courthouse.
A related vote to allow the issuance of up to $4 million in general obligation bonds would have required a four-sevenths majority, but it failed 631-869.
"I don't know where we go from here," said Clark County Presiding Commissioner Paul Allen.
He said the courthouse and another building house most county government offices. Last December, it cost $3,000 to heat the two buildings. Plastic is over the windows in the courthouse to keep wind from blowing in during the winter.
"It's something we have to have. As far as the court system, it's an unsafe building," Allen said.
Eastern District Commissioner Jerry Neyens agreed that the problem has not been solved.
Robert Davis, president of the Clark County Historical Society, was among those who encouraged voters to oppose the tax increase. He said the historic building could be renovated and an annex could provide more space for county offices.
There was some question as to whether the courthouse could be demolished, even if the ballot issues had been approved. Mark Miles, director of the Missouri State Historical Office, said $57,000 in grants were received for repairs on the building copula last year, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Allen said a courthouse committee may be called in for more meetings to consider options. He does not know whether another vote in the spring after a public information drive might yield different results.
"It took seven times to get the new (Clark County) school," Allen said.
Ralls County R-2 School District officials know something about how voters can change their minds. Last April, a $1.47 million revenue bond issue got a majority of the vote, but it fell 30 votes short of the four-sevenths majority it needed.
The results were more favorable Tuesday with a 551-323 majority favoring a general obligation bond issue. A big part of the $1.46 million project will involve expansion of a tornado-safe building to be constructed at Mark Twain Junior-Senior High School.
School Board President Ron Evans said the district got a $955,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build an 80-by-100-foot tornado-safe building. The school district needed to provide at least $300,000 to match those funds.
"It was just a plain building" with limited uses, Evans said.
Approval of the bond issue will allow the district to expand the building to 100-by-100, put in a hardwood floor, basketball goals, dressing rooms, acoustic refinements and a fire-proof storage area for district records.
Also, an enclosed walkway to the building from the junior high, along with roof repairs at the New London Elementary School and completion of driveway work at the high school, will be done.
Supporters of the bond issue worked hard to secure Tuesday's victory, Evans said. Many people went door-to-door to encourage a "yes" vote. Phone banks were used on Monday to remind people of the election.
The Ralls County Public Water Supply District's $4 million bond issue passed 181-74. Bonds will be repaid through revenues coming into the district.
— dwilson@whig.com/221-3372
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