Area voters give approval to six of eight school operating levies

Area voters approved six of the eight school operating levies on Tuesday's ballots.

Voters in Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City and in Montevideo turned back the levies sought by their school boards.

Levies were approved in Benson, BOLD, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Minnewaska Area, Renville County West and Yellow Medicine East. Unless they are described differently, the vote totals here are the final, unofficial tallies provided by the school district offices. The election results become official when certified by the school boards.

ACGC

ACGC voters turned back a request to revoke an existing $450-per-pupil operating levy and replace it with a $1,444-per-pupil levy for seven years.

The final vote was 1,551 votes against and 1,364 votes in favor. Voters turned down a levy the district sought in December 2005.

ACGC is currently in statutory operating debt, meaning its general fund balance is too low to meet state standards. Budget cuts have already been made in the district.

Montevideo

Montevideo's operating levy failed with 1,723 votes against and 1,456 votes in favor. The district sought a $375-per-pupil operating levy, to be added to an existing $500-per-pupil levy.

Benson

The Benson School District will have a new $515-per-student operating levy. The final total was 1,599 votes in favor and 994 votes against. It will replace the district's current levy of $315 per student and will last five years.

BOLD

Voters in the BOLD School District approved a new $700-per-pupil levy to replace a $415-per-pupil levy that is about to expire. The vote, according to a fax from the school district office, was 1,708 in favor of the levy and 885 against.

KMS

KMS voters approved a $200-per-pupil levy, replacing a $104-per-pupil levy that would have expired next year. According to the Minnesota Secretary of State's Web site, the vote was 767 in favor and 569 against.

Minnewaska Area

In the Minnewaska Area School District, voters approved a $62- per-student operating levy that will replace a current levy of 40 cents per student. The levy was approved on a fairly close 200-vote margin, with 2,593 votes in favor and 2,393 against.

Voters had rejected three levies in recent years.

RCW

The Renville County West School District earned approval from its voters for a $400-per-pupil operating levy. The levy passed with 1,007 votes in favor and 833 votes against. The new levy will be added to an existing $803-per-student levy.

YME

Yellow Medicine East had the narrowest margin of victory among area school districts -- just 19 votes. The district's operating levy was approved with 1,629 votes in favor and 1,610 votes against. The district will have a new $581-per-pupil operating levy, which will be added to a $419-per-student levy already in place.