Area voters have made their voices heard regarding six general obligation bond issues yesterday during the general election.

Five of the bonds are for public school districts. Marshalltown Community School District (CSD) voters approved the issuance of $57 million in General Obligation (GO) bonds for the Reimagine Miller project, which will renovate, expand and rebuild the middle school.

Of the 10,729 ballots cast for the project, 7,357, or 68 percent, were in favor and 3,372 were against. For the bond to pass, 60 percent plus one of the voters needed to approve.

Superintendent Theron Schutte was happy when the results came out late last night.

“I am thankful for the community’s faith in and support of the school board, and the process in place in determining the best route for students at Miller Middle School to be the best version of themselves,” he said.

Schutte said he was nervous with the bond vote being included in a large general election, but added that district officials put their best foot forward in getting information to the public. He said they are ready for the hard work to bring the project to fruition during the next three to four years.

Now that the voters have approved the referendum, the next step is to complete the design process. The plan is to put the project out for bid as early as December 2025 and as late as February 2026 and begin construction in the summer of 2026.

The rest of the $106 million project will be paid for by the SAVE (Secure an Advanced Vision for Education) fund.

East Marshall

The East Marshall CSD bond failed with only 53 percent of voters approving the $13.5 million project.

Voters considered a $13.5 million bond to build an addition to the elementary building which includes a gymnasium, classrooms and restrooms; and an addition to the high school. The project will also cover HVAC systems.

In Marshall County, 1,777 voters cast their votes with 949 in favor and 828 against. In Tama, 58 voters approved and 51 were against for a total of 109; Poweshiek, 4 ballots were cast with zero in favor; and Jasper, 42 in favor, 50 against for a total of 92. The total vote between all four counties was 1,982.

GMG

Sixty-six percent of voters approved the $12.3 million GMG CSD bond issue. The district requested voters to approve a $12.3 million bond to build, furnish and equip a classroom addition to the middle school and high school in Garwin. The project will include parking, maintenance on the existing school building and life safety and ADA improvements.

Two hundred ninety Marshall County voters approved, and 161 were opposed, for a total of 451 ballots. In Tama, 535 ballots were cast with 364 voters in favor and 171 against, for a total of 986 ballots.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck

Residents in the Gladbrook-Reinbeck CSD were almost evenly split on the $16.5 million bond request.

The bond would have been used to build a classroom to the secondary school and make necessary improvements and remodeling.

When the unofficial results for all four of the voting counties — Marshall, Black Hawk, Grundy and Tama — came in, Superintendent Caleb Bonjour said he could be better. However, with a majority of voters in favor, the plan is to try again.

“We will definitely go again,” he said. “That is our goal as a district.”

Only 14 ballots were cast in Marshall County with zero approvals, and 14 oppositions. In Grundy, 1,212 ballots were cast — 939 in favor and 273 against; Tama, 1,114 ballots, 240 voters approved and 874 were against; and Black Hawk, 104 ballots with 56 in favor and 48 against.

With all four counties combined, the bond issue received 1,235 in favor and 1,223 against, equating to roughly 50 percent of the vote.

West Marshall

West Marshall CSD residents voted on a $14 million bond to build an elementary school addition. The project includes demolishing the three-story building which houses fourth and fifth grades, constructing a parent drop off and parking area and connecting the middle school to the high school.

In Marshall County, 2,459 ballots were cast with 1,383 giving approval, and 1,076 being opposed. Story County machines were not reading the ballots, so the vote total was not available at press time.

With just 56 percent of Marshall County voters in favor of the bond, it would not be enough to clear the 60 percent threshold needed for passage.

State Center

The sixth bond issue was for the city of State Center. Residents were asked to approve $1.5 million for building an addition to the fire station. Ballots from 723 State Center residents were cast with 439, or 61 percent, in favor and 284 voted against.

LOST

A total of 3,882 voters in Marshall County also voted on the renewal of the local sales and services tax, which is predicted to generate about $1.6 million in annual revenue. Of those voters, 1,534 were in favor and 2,348 were against.

Fifty percent of the revenues from the tax would have gone to property tax relief and the remaining 50 percent would have been used for bridge and culvert repair and maintenance.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.