2 districts increase levy tallies
8/17/2004TIFFIN, Ohio A count of provisional ballots yesterday by the Seneca County Board of Elections confirmed the narrow passage of a Tiffin school levy and all but assured the passage of a Fostoria tax issue.
The Tiffin City Schools five-year, 5-mill emergency levy request won by 35 votes, 2,800 to 2,765, after the board counted 66 provisional ballots.
The final count boosted the margin of passage, which had been 22 votes on election night, enough to avoid an automatic recount, said Janet Leahy, Seneca County elections director.
The Fostoria City Schools also picked up votes for a five-year, 9.63-mill operating levy with the count of 11 provisional ballots from Seneca County. Those ballots broke 7-4 in favor of the tax, boosting its margin of victory to 11 votes.
Ms. Leahy said the levy lost by 865 votes to 879 in Seneca County, but with election-day results from Hancock and Wood counties, the measure now is passing by an overall tally of 1,521 to 1,510.
Hancock County had no provisional ballots for the Fostoria election, while the Wood County Board of Elections plans to count three such ballots from the school district on Aug. 24, elections director Terry Burton said.
Ms. Leahy said a recount is likely for the Fostoria levy.
It depends on what the vote is in the other two counties, she said. If it s within 15 votes, there will be an automatic recount.
Fostoria Superintendent Cynthia Lemmerman said she was relieved by the provisional ballot count.
Thank heavens, she said. We can finally, I think, breathe easy on this end and start school. It s a vote for our community and our children.
Ms. Lemmerman said the district has rolled back some of the $1 million in cuts imposed in May, restoring busing for high school students and full-day kindergarten.