Four of six taxes on the ballot for Tuesday’s municipal and school board elections passed, according to official results. A no-tax-increase bond issue for the Fayette R-III School District was overwhelmingly approved, as were a public water supply bond issue and three sales taxes for marijuana. A public safety tax for Fayette police and fire departments and a use tax in New Franklin were defeated.

Write-in votes will decide several races in Glasgow and one in Fayette. A vacancy for the Southwest Ward on the Fayette Board of Aldermen saw several write-ins on Tuesday. Marsha Broadus tallied the most votes with 24. It was expected that she would accept the position and be sworn-in during the council’s regular meeting, which occurred Tuesday evening after the Advertiser went to press.

Incumbents Stephanie Ford in the East Ward and Peggy O’Connell in the Northwest Ward were re-elected without opposition. Southwest Ward Alderwoman Bekki Galloway was also elected to finish out the term for which she was appointed last year.

Larry Neville will be the next Mayor of Glasgow. He ran without opposition.

Several names were written in for three seats on the Glasgow city council. As was previously reported by this newspaper, Central Ward incumbent Renna Bean, North Ward incumbent Susan Freese and challenger Michael Carter, and South Ward candidates Aaron Gouge and Jason Wright were all disqualified for the election in February after it was revealed they did not file the appropriate paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission by the January 17 deadline. 

The city decided in late February that any of those candidates could still be appointed to the council. North Ward incumbent Susan Freese received 20 write-in votes. Her challenger, Michael Carter, received one. Incumbent Renna Bean received the most write-in votes in the Central Ward, with four. Aaron Gouge received eight write-in votes for the South Ward, compared to Jason Wright with one vote.

The city council’s regular monthly meeting originally scheduled for Monday was pushed back one week. It will be held at 6:30 p.m. on April 17. 

Even with the controversy regarding disqualified candidates, Tuesday’s election only drew 14.77 percent of registered Glasgow voters to the polls.

The only contested race on the ballot was for that of the Harrisburg school board, for which only a handful of Howard County voters were in the jurisdiction to cast ballots. Incumbents Kathleen VanRoekel, Scott Eaton, Heidi DeMuth, and challenger Josh Byrd vied for three open seats. Byrd won eight votes here, with DeMuth earning six and Eaton and Van Roekel each taking four. 

Byrd ultimately won the most votes in Boone County with 213, followed by Eaton with 169, and DeMuth with 159. VanRoekel was not re-elected. She finished with 142 votes in Boone County.

The election drew a low turnout of just 15.31% of registered voters in the county. The Richmond Township precinct, comprised of Fayette voters, drew 21.81%, primarily driven by the Fayette school bond issue. The district asked voters to approve a $3.4 million bond issue without increasing current taxes. The measure passed handily with 70.93% voter approval, 471 to 193.

Fayette superintendent Brent Doolin thanked voters for “putting kids first.” 

“I’m grateful to live in a community that supports our school,” he said after learning the results Tuesday night.

The approval of the new bond allows the district to maintain its debt service levy at its current level. The district’s property tax rate is currently $4.9962 per $100 of assessed valuation. Of that, $0.7762 goes to pay the district’s debt.

Another major bond issue earned landslide passage. More than 71% of voters approved of a $3 million bond issue for the Public Water Supply District No. 2 so that the district may expand and improve waterworks systems. The final tally was 72-29.

Also earning easy passage were three taxes on marijuana. Voters in the cities of Fayette and Glasgow, along with those in Howard County, approved taxes of 3% on retail sales of recreational marijuana and paraphernalia should dispensaries be established in those towns or the county. Countywide, 64.45% of voters approved the new tax with a final tally of 649-358. In Glasgow, the pot tax passed 90-24. Fayette voters also gave the go-ahead for the new tax, with 223 voting “yes,” and 128 voting against.

The Fayette public safety tax failed for the second time, with 60% of voters turning down the additional sales tax. The same tax failed by just eight votes in the November 8 general election.

Also denied was an additional 2% sales tax in New Franklin for goods purchased online from out of state. The proposal was defeated by just four votes, 42-38.

The election results were officially certified Monday morning by Howard County Clerk Shelly Howell. They appear on Page 5 of this newspaper.