Cape Henlopen School District referendum fails
Voters reject $.549 per $100 assessed tax increase
LEWES — By an unofficial margin of about 600 votes in a referendum roughly double the size of the last effort in 2018 in terms of raw votes cast, voters in the Cape Henlopen school district …
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Cape Henlopen School District referendum fails
Voters reject $.549 per $100 assessed tax increase
By LEWES — By an unofficial margin of about 600 votes in a referendum roughly double the size of the last effort in 2018 in terms of raw votes cast, voters in the Cape Henlopen School District Tuesday rejected a proposal to increase the tax rate by $.549 per $100 assessed value to provide for operations and capital expenses.
“We are going to regroup, and we are obviously disappointed with the result. But our next steps are to look at the data more closely to figure out the community needs,” said Bob Fulton, superintendent of schools.
More than 7,900 ballots were cast, according to unofficial numbers provided by Delaware Department of Elections, up from about 3,200 in 2018.
Unofficially, more than 3,600 were for the proposal, while more than 4,200 were against. About 110 absentee ballots are included in the totals, as well as 34 “undervotes,” or when a blank vote is cast, according to the Delaware Department of Elections.
Voters at Cape Henlopen High School, the most active polling place, tallied about 2,030 for and about 2,100 against; Rehoboth Elementary voters leaned in favor of the proposal by about 930-730; but the voters at Mariner Middle School were against the proposal by more than a 2-to-1 margin with almost 600 for and more than 1,300 against, according to unofficial numbers.
The district’s proposal was divided into two parts, with operational expenses taking up $.335 of the total increase to cover items such as salaries and benefits in a 60-40 split with the state, according to the district.
Capital expenses, coming from local taxpayers only, included a $15 million property purchase of 102 acres; $21.5 million for a new district office; $6 million for a transportation maintenance facility; and about $36.1 million for an indoor swimming complex.
Clearing these capital expenses would allow the district to pursue its top priority, expansion of the high school, Mr. Fulton said.
Last year, the district’s request to expand the high school was not approved by the state, because of stormwater and parking concerns on the site.
