Indian River School District referendum fails

By fewer votes than the students in a typical classroom, residents of the Indian River School District rejected a proposal Nov. 22 to increase the district’s tax rate to help offset rising costs associated with an increasing student population.

The results were 3,341 votes against and 3,321 votes for the tax.

The referendum called for raising about $7.35 million through an increase of 49 cents per $100 of assessed property. The average property in the district is assessed at about $19,000, which would mean a yearly $95 property tax increase. The district's current tax rate is $3.06 per $100 of assessed property – the lowest in Sussex County.

Charles Bireley, Indian River School District Board of Education president, said he, the board and district staff were disappointed in the results. Speaking Nov. 23, he said the board has regularly scheduled meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 28, when a discussion will be had about the things learned from this referendum process.

He said he expects the board to move forward with a second referendum attempt in late January.

In previous reports, school district officials said not passing the referendum would result in fewer teachers and security personnel and fewer resources for students.

Bireley said the board would wait for the results of the second referendum before making any decisions on jobs and resources. Those hard decisions are coming if the second referendum doesn’t pass, he said.

The timing of the referendum couldn’t have been worse. Five days before the vote, Nov. 17, State Auditor R. Thomas Wagner Jr. released a report following a year-long investigation detailing more than $100,000 in misspent district funds by Patrick Miller, the district’s chief financial officer/finance director.

Bireley said he didn’t blame the auditor for releasing the results of the investigation when he did, but he said, he believed the results played a role in the referendum being voted down.

“Yes, I do,” he said.