Scott County voters approve law enforcement sales tax

BENTON — Voters in Scott County approved a countywide half-cent law enforcement sales tax during the Tuesday, April 2, municipal election.

In a vote of 1,592 “yes” votes, or 51.06%, to 1,526 “no” votes, or 49.94%, the proposed sales tax will help fund the the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, allowing the county to free up additional monies in the general revenue fund that can be used for maintenance and other needs in the county, according to the Scott County Commission.

Scott County Rural Fire Protection District’s Proposition Safety received a simple majority approval for its “no tax increase” $1.65 million bond issue; however, a four-sevenths majority, or 57.14% approval, was needed for passage. There were 278 “yes” votes, or 57.08%, and 209 “no” votes, or 42.92%. The purpose of the proposal was to construct a new firehouse, purchase a new firetruck, remodel and repair existing facilities and apparatus equipment and prepay lease financings.

City races

Running unopposed in the City of Sikeston were: Greg Turnbow, mayor, 539 votes; Vest Baker, councilman Ward 2, 138 votes; and David Teachout, councilman Ward 3, 81 votes.

In the City of Miner, Frank Tatum, 32 votes, was unopposed in his bid for mayor as were James Alsup, alderman, Ward 1, who received 15 votes and Karen Whitaker, alderwoman Ward 2, who netted 14 votes.

In a vote of 18 to 15, a city sales tax of 1% was approved by voters in Blodgett.

Running unopposed in the City of Benton were: Geri Henneman, alderman, Ward 1, who received 37 votes; and Brandon M. Sparks, alderman, Ward 2, who had 68 votes.

In a vote of 70 to 41, voters in the City of Morley, approved a city sales tax of 1/2% beginning Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, and expiring Dec. 31, 2035.

Vying for the two Morley aldermen at-large positions were Brent Powell, 90 votes; James A. Scherer, 25 votes; and James Kerber, 11 votes. Running unopposed in his bid as Morley mayor was Doug Sikes, 71 votes.

Linda Williams, 18 votes, and Robert Walls, 14 votes, were unopposed in their bids for the two, two-year terms on the Haywood City board of trustees.

Kevin Burchard, 22 votes, was the sole candidate for the two, two-year terms on the Vanduser board of trustees.

Running unopposed for the mayor of Oran after incumbent Gary Senciboy resigned to run for state representative in the 148th District, newcomer Travis Scherer received 149 votes. Senciboy still received 21 votes.

Also running unopposed in the City of Oran were Marcia Roslen, city collector, 151 votes; Ronald L. Diebold Sr., alderman, Ward 1, 25 votes; Gil Roslen, alderman, Ward 2, 65 votes; Karen Diebold, alderman, Ward 3, 39 votes; and Kevin Williams, alderman, Ward 4, 23 votes.

There were two positions on the Kelso board of trustees and two candidates, Michael Landewee, 82 votes, and Larry McClain, 76 votes.

In a vote of 178 to 72, voters in the City of Chaffee approved imposing a sales tax of 3% on all tangible personal property retail sales of adult-use marijuana sold in the city.

In the City of Chaffee, Steven G. Milz, 80 votes, defeated Darla Buckhannon Britain, 29 votes, for the Ward 3 councilperson term. Running unopposed were Ronald E. Davis, Ward 1 councilperson, 31 votes; Andy Sadler, Ward 2 councilperson, 40 votes; and Tara Golightly, Ward 4 councilperson, 45 votes.

Incumbent Norman Brant, 290 votes, defeated Ray Parker, 175 votes, and Robert E. Foulk Jr., 28 votes, in the race for Scott City mayor. Running unopposed for City Council were: Mike Rhymer, Ward 1, who had 118 votes; Heather Ingvalson, Ward 2, 100 votes; Jack Howard, Ward 3, 109 votes; and Cody Page, Ward 4, 107 votes.

School boards

In the race for the Scott County “Kelly” School District Board of Education, Brent Peters, 371 votes, and Bobby Newton, 338 votes, won the two seats on the board over Kindel Ward, 252 votes.

Incumbents Matt Pobst, 173 votes, and Hunter Juden, 143 votes, were reelected to the Scott County Central Board of Education, defeating Billy Kirkpatrick, 98 votes.

In the Oran School District, Daniel Hahn, 201 votes, and Carla Graviett, 198 votes, were chosen by voters to fill the two positions on the board. Their challenger, Tiffany Schaefer, received 164 votes.

While the majority of voters in the Kelso School District, which is comprised of Kelso and New Hamburg precincts and a portion of voters in the Benton precinct, approved the no-tax increase measure to borrow $1.2 million in general obligation bonds, a four-sevenths majority, or 57.14% approval was needed for passage so the proposition did not pass. The measure received 194 “yes” votes, or 54.19% and 164 “no” votes, or 45.81%. The bonds would have been used to prepay the existing lease financing for additional classrooms, parking lot expansion and other improvements.

Running unopposed in their bids for the two positions on the Kelso Board of Education were incumbent Dustin Benson, 292 votes, and newcomer Michael Glastetter, 307 votes.

These results, which were provided by the office of Scott County Clerk Allen Seabaugh, are unofficial. There were 3,141 ballots cast, or 12.56%, of the 25,009 total registered voters who turned out to Tuesday’s election.