With the final 120 ballots counted Thursday, the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office is expected today to certify the results of levies and bonds in the May 18 election.
The certification will stamp smiles on the faces of officials in the Snohomish and Edmonds school districts, which secured a combined $185 million for projects that include new schools and safety and technology improvements.
In the final results, Snohomish’s $141.6 million bond passed with 61.3 percent of the vote. The 20-year bond will build a new high school and a new elementary school in the south end of the district, and will bring a large-scale renovation of Snohomish High School, among other improvements.
The district is working with Snohomish County to buy about 70 acres of the old Cathcart landfill site, where the new schools will be built. The soonest the high school would open is 2008-09.
Edmonds schools’ four-year, $44 million levy will pay for technology upgrades, earthquake safety improvements, and safety measures in playgrounds and athletic fields. There is also money for designs to rebuild Lynnwood and Scriber Lake high schools.
Previous variations of the same proposal twice failed to get the 60 percent supermajority needed to pass. This time, the district asked for money only for design plans for Lynnwood and Scriber Lake high schools, not to rebuild them.
Three fire service levies and a school bond in Coupeville on the ballots in Snohomish and Island counties also passed.
Coupeville schools: A $22.9 million construction bond measure for a new high school and other improvements extended its yes vote to 68.4 percent. It needed a 60 percent supermajority to pass.
Stanwood Fire: A permanent emergency and medical services levy at the same rate of the current six-year levy (50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value), which needed 60 percent approval, holds an 80.5 percent yes vote.
Snohomish County Fire District No. 14: A renewal of a six-year levy at a rate of 50 cents per $1,000 of property value passed with 80.1 percent voting yes. It needed 60 percent approval.
Camano Island Fire and Rescue: Needing a simple majority, the increase from 75 cents to $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value was passing with a 51.7 percent yes vote.
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