School measure inches closer

Before the Nov. 6 election, Lisa Macfarlane, co-founder of the League of Education Voters, bet colleagues that a ballot measure that would allow school levies to pass with a simple majority vote would squeak by with 50.0125 percent in favor.

She may yet win — the bet, and the election.

House Joint Resolution 4204 remains too close to call. After it was trailing in early returns Tuesday by 38,000 votes statewide, the gap narrowed to about 11,000 Saturday, with an estimated 206,000 votes yet to count.

That's 49.6 percent in favor and 50.4 percent against.

"There's reason to hope," Macfarlane said.

Supporters worked for decades to get the measure on the ballot. They argued it was unfair and expensive to require school districts to get 60 percent of voters to approve the property-tax levies that make up, on average, about 17 percent of their annual budgets.

They predicted the election would be close — and it is.

Supporters' hopes lie mostly in King County, where the approval rating has been the strongest and is growing each day. So far, nearly 58 percent of the votes counted in King County have supported the measure, with an estimated 86,000 yet to count.

About 63 percent of the 35,524 votes counted Saturday were in favor, the highest margin yet, said George Scarola, legislative director of the league, which has been involved in the campaign.

"That's huge, that's just huge," he said.

Supporters hope that means that the campaign's ads and calls influenced people who turned in or mailed absentee ballots close to Election Day.

As of Saturday, the measure was leading in seven counties: King, Jefferson, San Juan, Snohomish, Thurston, Whatcom and Whitman. It was nearly 50-50 in Asotin and Spokane, but was trailing in Pierce County and most rural areas.

There was no organized opposition to Resolution 4204, but those who spoke against it stressed the measure would likely lead to higher property taxes. They also argued it was appropriate for any government, including schools, to get 60 percent of the vote when asking voters to approve property taxes beyond the constitutionally protected limit of $10 per $1,000 of a property's assessed value.

Supporters raised about $3 million, ran three television ads and organized 100 phone banks across the state.

The smaller-than-expected voter turnout probably hurt the measure, Macfarlane said.

A mandatory recount would occur if the margin slips to fewer than 2,000 votes and also is less than one-half of one percent of total votes cast.

Macfarlane said she's been taking Tums since Election Day.

Scarola said it took him two days after the election to get over feeling "totally depressed." It took another two days to believe the measure still had a chance.

"Now I believe we have a shot," he said.

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com