Cape Henlopen School District’s referendum is unsuccessful for a second time.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Another try yields the same result for Cape Henlopen School District.
In a nail-biter, the district’s second try at a referendum to raise local taxes to increase district revenue was unsuccessful Tuesday.
The final vote was 52.8% against (4,628) and 47.2% for (4,133) a tax increase that would benefit the district. These are preliminary results published by the Department of Elections.
The district was hoping to raise $83,647,000 of additional local revenue, which would increase the average homeowner’s tax bill by $153.75 more a year, or $12.81 a month.
The extra money would have helped the district with operational needs like personnel costs and facility costs, as well as help fund capital projects in the district’s attempt to purchase land in order to accommodate rapid population.
Here’s how Cape Henlopen’s residents voted:
About an hour before the Department of Elections posted the results, the school district posted on its Facebook page that the vote did not pass.
“We are extremely disappointed in the results and will take some time over the next few weeks to determine both short-term and long-term plans moving forward,” the district stated in a post.
Cape Henlopen’s first go at the referendum failed on March 26, with about 650 votes (54% of votes) swaying the decision.
Smyrna is the sixth and final district this school year to have a referendum. Its first one failed on March 9.
RELATED: Smyrna School District referendum fails
Smyrna’s second shot at winning the vote is June 6.
This year, Brandywine, Red Clay Consolidated and Colonial all had successful referendums on their first attempt this year. Appoquinimink’s first try was unsuccessful, but it eventually passed on the second go April 23.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz
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