Northeast Texas Community College confirmed Wednesday that Proposition One failed by 327 votes. However, final tallies from county election officials showed that Proposition Two passed by four votes.
Proposition One dealt with restructuring NTCC's tax cap and would grant the college the ability to pay back debt. Proposition Two authorized the college to issue $19.9 million in bonds to repair the 30-year-old NTCC campus.
?This leaves the college with the authority to issue bonds, but no way to pay them back,? Dr. Brad Johnson, NTCC President, said. ?The board will meet next Monday to canvass the election and consider its options.?
Voting totals were as follows:
Camp County
Proposition 1:
For:†1,034
Against: 1,141
Proposition 2:
For: 1,045
Against: 1,136
Morris County
Proposition 1:
For:†1,223
Against: 1,407
Proposition 2:
For: 1,272
Against: 1,360
Titus County
Proposition 1
For:†2,262
Against: 2,298
Proposition 2
For:†2,377
Against: 2,194
Total Votes:
Proposition 1
For:†4,519
Against: 4,846
Proposition 2
For:†4,694
Against: 4,690
"If we have learned anything from this election, it is that every single vote counts," Johnson said. "We are very pleased that voters in our district have approved Proposition Two. Since Proposition One did not pass, we still have work to do. However, this tells us that the community recognizes our needs and supports repairing our facilities."
The next opportunity for the college to put the tax cap issue before voters will be in May 2015.
"We are getting feedback from the community that Proposition One was confusing and unclear to voters. Our board will be addressing this soon and we will evaluate the next steps. Ultimately, our goal is to come up with a plan that addresses our campus needs in a way that our district is comfortable with and can stand behind," Johnson said.
November 12, 2014
