In Temple, voters approved the Temple Health and Bioscience Economic Development District’s desire to become a taxing entity, but Belton school district voters turned down the school district’s $38.9 million bond election.
The Temple Bioscience District election was a squeaker. A total of 1,752 ballots were cast, with only 28 votes giving the initiative the edge. The final tally was 890 for and 862 against.
In the Belton school district bond election to fund a new middle school and other capital improvements, the nays came out ahead with 809, compared to 724 yeas.
In early voting of the bioscience district election, the ballots came in at 427 for and 423 against. On election day the margin remained close, with 463 people voting in favor and 439 against.
“This is a great vote of confidence in the future of this community,” said Wendell Williams, president of the Temple Health and Bioscience Economic Development District board of directors. “I’m both in awe of the citizens in taking this step and, at the same time, the board is very cognizant of the responsibility it has to be very effective and very efficient with the taxpayers’ money as we go forward with this initiative.”
The law gives the district the ability to tax up to 15 cents per $100 valuation; however, the board has indicated it will not levy a tax of more than 2.5 cents per $100 valuation.
Since its inception, the Temple Health and Bioscience Economic Development District has been reliant on grants, donations and contributions and has managed to work within those constraints, but the playing field has changed in the last five years, with communities becoming more competitive.
Money raised by the Bioscience District will go toward developing a bioscience accelerator designed to provide space and staff to support the development of ideas into a commercial reality.
The Temple Health and Bioscience District has received $341,000 in federal funds designated for equipment purchase for the project.
“This is the beginning of the future of the city of Temple,” said Temple Mayor Bill Jones III.
Temple has had great industrial development over the past 50 years and this bioscience project is the beginning of a new industry for the community, Jones said.
“We’re very appreciative of the voters in Temple. It’s by them and for them that we’re able to do what we do,” he said.
In Belton, school district officials are trying to figure out what went wrong.
In Belton, the needs for a new school are not going to go away, said Randy Pittenger, Belton school district board president.
“We didn’t get the voter turnout that we’re accustomed to,” Pittenger said. “Somehow we didn’t generate the urgency to go vote from the supporters.”
The school district’s long-range facility planning committee will be brought back together, following the bond defeat, to discuss the next step.
There are questions that need to be answered, he said. Did people take it for granted the bond would pass and not bother to vote, was the message off, or was the timing bad.
“There is no contingency plan,” Pittenger said. “There was broadbase support for the plan from the committee and the board.”
Belton school district will continue to offer a good education to its students, he said, and the teachers and staff will work through any adverse conditions that might result from the bond defeat - crowded conditions and the possibility of portable buildings.
“We’re going to continue to grow and there will be new schools in Belton,” Pittenger said. “This is a community that strongly supports schools.”
The district recognizes that nationally economic news is unsettling, making people hesitant to make commitments, he said.
“We’ll learn from this as we go forward and over the next few weeks and months we’ll be having lots of discussions.” Pittenger said. “We’ll continue to have broadbase involvement and active participation in coming up with a plan.”
