By MARSHALL WHITE
The Savannah Reporter for St. Joseph Post
Elections aren’t over until the votes are counted, and this time those totals surprised County Clerk Sarah Miller, who’s the county’s chief election official. The August primary election turnout had only about 16 percent of the registered voters casting ballots. The predicted turnout for November’s election was only 8 percent, but in the end 18 percent of registered voters turned out.
Miller announced around 8 p.m. on Nov. 2 that Savannah voters passed the 1-cent sales tax by a wide margin, voting 491 in favor to 211 against.
Dave Vincent, the longtime Savannah police chief, was pleased to note that 70 percent of the voters supported the sales tax. That’s similar to the support voters gave to the Buchanan County law enforcement tax in August, he told The Savannah Reporter.
“I’ve always felt this community has supported the police and fire,” Vincent said. “This vote continues that approval, and I’m very thankful.”
City Administrator Bruce Lundy said, “We’re relieved and thankful voters turned out in support of the fire and police.”
Savannah plans for most of the money to be used to purchase fire equipment and increase police salaries.
“It’s not a big bucket of money,” Lundy said. “The tax won’t go into effect until January, and the city will have to let it be so it can grow before there is any thought about spending the money.”
On the other hand, the news on Tuesday for the Savannah R-3 School District wasn’t good.
The district was seeking a 15-cent levy increase for 10 years, with funds targeted for building maintenance. The final vote count was 861 in favor and 889 opposed, so the levy failed.
“I thank everybody that voted and congratulations to the city on its issue,” R-3 Board President Joe Barbosa said. “The board respects this outcome. We’re going to the state meeting this weekend. Maybe that will give the board some inspiration to regroup and look at our long-term plans.”
Miller told The Savannah Reporter that the election is estimated to cost about $12,000, with the city and the school district splitting the cost with each paying $6,000. The county clerk was extremely pleased with how everything ran so smoothly this time.
“All the machines worked properly from the moment the polls opened, and the two deputy county clerks and the election judges saw to it throughout the day that everything else kept running smoothly.”
Amongst the spectators waiting for the results was Dennis Arn. He told The Savannah Reporter he was just curious to see how the vote was going. He said the district’s decision to add a 10 year sunset clause made good sense because a lot of people don’t want open-ended taxes.
The next regularly scheduled election is April 2023, when at least city and school board races will be on the ballots.