How to resolve AdBlock issue? The results reported so far by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office are preliminary until the official canvass is completed in one month, as thousands of ballots remain to be counted.
Measures on the ballot included school bonds H, for the Middletown Unified School District, and I and J, for the Upper Lake Unified School District; the county’s Measure K, which would institute a cannabis business tax in the unincorporated county; and Measure L, a special benefit tax for the South Lake County Fire District.
The school bond measures all require at least a 55-percent approval from voters, while Measure K needs a simple majority and Measure L needs a super majority of at least 66.7 percent to pass.
With the exception of Measure L, preliminary ballot tallies showed that all of the measures had gained the necessary number of votes to pass.
The following is a breakdown of each of the measures and the vote counts so far.
Measure H
According to the ballot analysis, Measure H is a $28 million bond that aims “to replace Middletown Unified’s outdated portables and construct permanent 21st century learning environments, modernize existing classrooms, enhance student safety and security, upgrade school grounds, and improve career technical and ag facilities.”
It will have an estimated annual average tax levy of $1,623,000 for 35 years and a projected tax rate of 6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, with an independent citizens' oversight committee, annual audits, and no money for administrator salaries.
With early absentees and all 11 Middletown Unified voting precincts counted, the measure had received a yes vote of 57.9 percent, or 1,254 ballots cast in its favor, versus 912 no votes, which accounted for 42.1 percent.
Measure I
Measure I, also known as the “Upper Lake Unified School District High School Renovation and Modernization Measure,” is a $10 million bond that would raise an average of $527,000 annually to repay bonds through maturity from levies of approximately three cents per $100 of assessed
valuation.
The funding would be used “to construct and modernize classrooms, upgrade career
Technology education, enhance safety/security, provide 21st century learning environments at Upper Lake High School, and provide the local match for State grants,” according to the ballot analysis.
It also would require citizens oversight and audits, and no money for administrator salaries.
Preliminary voting results from 12 voting precincts and absentees showed Measure I receiving a yes vote of 62.6 percent, or 1,106 ballots cast in favor, compared to a no vote of 37.4 percent, or 607 ballots.
Measure J
Upper Lake Unified School District also asked voters to support Measure J, also known as the “Upper Lake Unified School District School Facilities Improvement District No. 1 (K-8 Area) Elementary and Middle School Renovation and Modernization Measure.”
It’s a $12 million ballot that would raise an average of $665,000 annually to repay bonds through
maturity from levies of approximately six cents per $100 of assessed valuation, also with a citizens oversight and audits, and no money used for administrator salaries.
The ballot analysis states it’s “to construct, modernize and rehabilitate K-8 classrooms,
improve access to modern technology, install shade structures, improve play areas, enhance safety/security, and provide the local match for State grants.”
So far, early absentees and voters in seven precincts appear to have approved it. Preliminary results show a yes vote of 62.2 percent, or 624 ballots, versus a 37.8 percent no vote, or 379 ballots count.
Measure K
The Lake County Board of Supervisors voted to put Measure K – or the Cannabis Business Tax
Ordinance – before voters.
The measure is a tax on commercial cannabis businesses that requires only a simple majority, and will go into effect in the unincorporated county on Jan. 1, 2021, if approved.
Measure K will impose an annual tax of $1 per square foot for nursery cultivation, 4 percent of gross receipts on a cannabis dispensary, microbusiness or delivery business, and 2.5 percent of
gross receipts on a cannabis manufacturing, processing, transportation, distribution or other type of cannabis business, based on the ballot language. The tax will not be applied to testing laboratories.
The measure also allows for an annual increase – but no decrease – based on the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco County area.
The preliminary voting results show Measure K had 6,735 ballots, or 69.4 percent, cast in its favor, with no votes totaling 2,976 ballots, or 30.6 percent.
Measure L
Measure L seeks to impose a special tax on residents in the South Lake County Fire Protection District “in order to continue to provide sufficient funding for fire and emergency medical services,” according to the ballot language.
It would increase the district’s appropriations limit and assess a maximum rate of $10 per benefit unit.
The measure assigns different benefit unit values to particular properties, such as 16 units for vacant land of up to an acre and 20 units for vacant land of 10 acres or more. Orchards, vineyards and field crops are assessed at similar rates, with single family dwellings assessed at 20 benefit units, duplexes at 40 units, convalescent and rest homes at 70 units.
Commercial units of 999 square feet and below are 165 benefit units, with a range for larger buildings that tops out at 250 benefit units for buildings of 10,000 square feet or more.
The measure requires a supermajority vote of 66.7 percent.
The preliminary voting returns show that the measure is just below the threshold, with 66.2 percent, or 1,694 yes votes, cast, while 866 voters, or 33.8 percent, voted against it.
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