School bond proposition falls short

Published 9:47 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

Day by day, as the school bond vote tally was updated, levy supporters lost hope it would pass. By Thursday, Feb. 8, they knew it was mathematically impossible for the proposition to gather enough support to win.

“We’re disappointed,” said Snoqualmie Valley School District Superintendent Joel Aune. “It’s a huge challenge, a monumental challenge, to get the 60 percent supermajority.”

It was close but the $290.3 million tax hike to build new schools in the Snoqualmie Valley School District gathered 57.7 percent of the ballots cast, as of Feb. 12. Voter turnout was at 39.1 percent, with 7,349 out of 18,839 voters casting ballots. Turnout exceeded the pre-election forecast, which predicted 29.6 percent participation.

Votes will continue to be counted as mail-in ballots are received; but there likely won’t be enough to change the result, based on historic patterns. The King County Canvassing Board meets Feb. 21 to certify final election results.

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