Washington voters reject bond to improve school facilities

WASHINGTON, Iowa – Washington High School will not be getting a facelift, school district voters decided Tuesday.

About 51 percent of voters – short of the 60 percent needed for passage – said yes to a proposed $9.5 million bond to fund building renovations of the aging high school and the construction of a new auditorium.

The bond would have added $1.94 to the district's debt service levy. The owner of a $100,000 home would have paid an extra $82 in taxes per year. The owner of a 300 acre farm will paid $442 more per year.

The school building, constructed in 1918 with an addition in 1953, will become the district's middle school facility after the new high school opens in the fall of 2012.

The measure's failure will cause the district to lose a $500,000 geothermal grant,  Superintendent Mike Jorgensen told The Gazette last week.

Washington's last successful bond issue was approved in 1962.