It’s official and disappointing for the Heartland school district. The Special mail-in-only election with a resolution for Heartland to increase its tax authority request did not receive the required 60% approval needed.
“We knew there would be challenges getting this initiative passed, but there was a good turnout for the vote. Unfortunately, a 55.60% majority for the initiative fell short of the high threshold the Nebraska Legislature set for this particular issue,” said Superintendent Klein.
FOR: 412 – 55.60%
AGAINST: 329 – 44.40%
The York County Election canvassing board officially certified the results today with 741 total ballots counted.
Superintendent Jeremy Klein sent a memo to all Heartland staff members after he received the unofficial results. “The building project as we have envisioned it up to this point is certainly on hold for now,” said Klein.
According to Superintendent Klein, the board will hold its annual end-of-the-fiscal year meeting in August, where they will review the budget, which will certainly reflect the unsuccessful passage of the resolution.
He identified the following needs that still exist:
- Community Daycare infrastructure
- Safety Improvements (e.g. Main Entrance/Office, connecting buildings, bleacher replacement, weight room expansion)
- Fire Suppression/Fire Sprinkling the Building
- Upgrade & Unification of Fire, Security, Video & Communications Systems
- Upgrade & replacement of electrical/power infrastructure that is currently 40-70 years old
- Local Authority to manage General Fund Stability over the intermediate-term and the long-term
It will take several weeks before they have gathered enough information from their architects, school attorneys, and lenders to identify options for moving forward over the coming year, said Superintendent Klein.
