Marion budget revote next month
By Beth Hoad

At a special Board of Education meeting on May 23, several School District residents expressed their feelings concerning the $15.4 million budget, which was defeated on May 17 by six votes.

Following a presentation by Superintendent Dr. J. Richard Boyes in which he justified, in general terms, the budget as originally proposed community members took the floor with comments both pro and con as to how to present the budget for revote.

During his presentation, Boyes said facts and figures to support the any statements he made were available from the District Office during regular business hours.

When the meeting was opened to public comment, Rick Walker, a member of the districts budget committee said, 'Except for a couple of years, I've sat on the budget committee for a long time, and we had some long discussions about cuts and adjustments. We (the committee) spent many hours in meetings to come up with what we thought was the best for everyone concerned. My gut tells me we shouldn't change a thing. I cannot believe in light of the small margin the first time around that it would be defeated again.'

Former school board member Richard Adriaansen said, 'I'd like to see something cut out to show the negative community that you made an effort.' Having said that, he also commented that it wouldn't have to be a large amount.

After the discussion turned to the light voter turnout, another resident agreed that the board should not make any cuts. 'I was so busy running my kids to sports and stuff, I just forgot to vote, and I think there were a lot of others who did the same. ... There were no signs or anything visible about the vote, and people need to be reminded.'

One resident who said her children are through school said, 'I went home and got comfortable on the couch. I don't have kids in school any more. I would have voted if something was there to remind me. I would have gone in right after work.'

The main idea coming from those at the meeting was that residents need to be encouraged or reminded to vote on their school budgets. Several commented they had seen signs and other reminders in other districts. They also reported some districts hold special events in conjunction with the budget vote in order to draw more voters. One teacher offered that perhaps the teachers union could do something to get more voters to the polls. When a question arose about the actual turnout, Boyes said the count of 510 voters was about average for Marion.

It was suggested the location of the polls might have been a factor in the low turnout. The location of the polls is alternated one year at the Elementary School and the next at the High School. Some board members said perhaps the location should be in the Elementary School every year since it is more centrally located.

If the budget is rejected on the second vote, the state-imposed contingency budget will automatically take effect. Saying that he felt the budget is the best it can be for students, teachers and taxpayers, board president Kevin Adriaansen said he wanted to resubmit the original proposal His comment was reinforced by Linda Bush who said, 'It's a good budget, but we didn't do a good job of advertising the vote.'

As a point of interest, Boyes said, 'I would remind you that this second vote will cost the district about $1750 for brochures and legal notices, and that doesn't include labor.'

Board members voted unanimously to resubmit the $15.4 million budget as originally proposed for revote on June 15, 2005 from 1 to 9. Boyes said a new brochure must be mailed to district residents and legal notices must be posted in the official newspapers.

In order for a budget to be in place on July 1, a public hearing will be held at the next regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting on June 6 in the High School library at 7 p.m. and the vote will be the following week.

If the budget fails in the second vote, a contingency budget that would remove only $91,000 from the $15 million plus spending package will automatically go into effect.

Donna Johnson said, 'We're just talking the cost of how many pizzas here! It's not that much and how much would we be losing for that little money?'

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