NEWS

Defeat of Eaton Rapids sinking fund holds after recount

Rachel Greco
Lansing State Journal

CHARLOTTE - The defeat of the Eaton Rapids Public Schools sinking fund millage will stand following a recount of the ballots Monday.

The final tally changed just slightly, 1,177 no votes to 1,175 yes votes, with election assistants counting one less no vote than what the Nov. 3 unofficial election results showed.

In the end, the proposal for a 1-mill, 10-year sinking fund failed by three votes instead of four, according to Eaton County Clerk Diana Bosworth.

Linda Towsley (right) and Fran Fuller count Eaton Rapids ballots Monday at the Eaton County Courthouse.

The November vote was the second time in a year that voters have weighed in on the schools proposal. It failed to pass last November as well. It would have generated approximately $495,800 a year to pay for facility and equipment maintenance and upgrades within the district over the next decade.

"I'm really disappointed with the outcome but the recount doesn't really change my outlook," said Eaton Rapids schools Superintendent Bill DeFrance. "We lost by a couple of votes no matter how you look at it."

DeFrance said the district's Board of Education will discuss the millage during its meeting Wednesday but he suspects the issue will be tabled until at least next spring.

That's the recommendation of the district's sinking fund committee, which includes school staff and community members, he said.

"I believe the board will support what the committee says," DeFrance said.

Rob South, Eaton Rapids schools’ communications director, requested the recount just a few days after the election. He paid a $25 fee for the recount of each of the school district's eight precincts

Bosworth said two teams of two election assistants each spent four hours recounting ballots by hand in the Eaton County Courthouse Board of Commissioners' meeting room.

The recount cost the school district between $600 and $700, she added.

This is the first recount she's overseen as clerk but Bosworth helped with two others in the last six years.

"Looking back over our previous recounts, I did not find any that were reversed," she said.

Contact Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.