Voters handily defeat OTC tax levy despite low turnout

With turnout at 9 percent, the measure failed by a margin of nearly 3-to-1, according to preliminary election results posted online by the Greene County Clerk’s office. About 11,500 people, or 72 percent, voted against the levy increase, while slightly more than 4,400 supported the proposal.

The measure also failed by a similar margin in Christian and Webster counties. Voters in designated school districts in Christian, Webster, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Dallas and Dade counties were eligible to vote on the levy increase.

The 12-cent increase would have been phased in at 4 cents a year for three years, raising the levy from its current 14 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 26 cents per $100 assessed valuation in 2010. After the third and final increase, additional property tax on a $100,000 home would have amounted to $22.80 per year. At the end of three years, the increased levy would have generated about $5 million annually for OTC.

Members of the Committee for Workforce Investment – a group of businesspeople that actively campaigned for the levy increase – could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning. And Committee Chairman Larry Snyder, president of construction firm Larry Snyder & Co., referred questions to OTC President Hal Higdon, who was out of town and unavailable for comment.

The committee highlighted the contrast between the local OTC tax levy – the lowest of 12 community colleges in Missouri – and the school’s tuition, which is the highest in the state at $95 per credit hour. But the comparison apparently didn’t sway voters.

A majority of voters who participated in a recent online poll at sbj.net favored the OTC tax levy increase. Sixty-one percent of the 147 votes cast favored the tax increase, according to poll results.

See SBJ’s Nov. 12 issue for more about the outcome of Tuesday’s vote.[[In-content Ad]]