MAHOMET – Mahomet voters defeated the school district’s latest attempt to pay for a new elementary and junior high, according to unofficial election results from Champaign County.
The Mahomet-Seymour School Board president said they are not planning to try again, but supporters of the efforts to reduce overcrowding hope they will.
“Our margins are getting smaller in terms of people voting yes and no, so I’m hoping that they just really continue to educate the community,” said Lincoln Trail Elementary parent Stefanie Freeman.
Freeman said her third grade son has been struggling at Lincoln Trail. He is learning in a student services room that has been converted into a classroom and is just over half the size of other classrooms.
Other families in favor of the resolution agreed they wanted the bond effort to continue.
But those opposed say paying $320 more in taxes on a $100,000 home is unreasonable.
Miranda Apperson is a mother of four in Mahomet-Seymour Schools, including Lincoln Trail. She didn’t vote on the referendum, but opposed it. Apperson said property taxes have already gone up recently.
“It’s good that they’re trying to improve the schools, but I think the biggest thing was the cost of it. If they could do something about what it is going to cost us in taxes, it would be more reasonable,” she added.
Others who voted against the referendum agreed that the property taxes are already too high for them as homeowners or as renters getting rent increases.
This was the third attempt in two years to address school overcrowding through a bond referendum.
According to Champaign County unofficial results, 54 % of Mahomet-Seymour voters opposed the referendum, or about 4,620 people. In Piatt County, three people voted on the referendum in the unofficial tally and all voted against it.
Emily Hays is a reporter for Illinois Public Media.