Voter Turnout ‘Slow and Steady’ in Lakewood

With only one item on the ballot in Lakewood, getting in and out of the polling place hasn’t been an issue for voters on Tuesday.

One poll worker at the Lakewood Presbyterian Church said that turnout has been “slow and steady.”

Voters in Lakewood are deciding a 3.9-mill operating levy to help offset some of the cuts made by the state. School officials have said that the past few years haven’t been financially easy for the Lakewood City Schools.
Voters trickled into the polls on Tuesday.

Mike Bailey, the poll station manager at the Horace Mann Elementary School, said “it’s been a light day so far.”

For example, at 12:30 p.m., only 11 people had voted in Precinct 1F.

Terry Walker, a poll worker at Horace Mann, said he expects more people to vote after work.

“It’s a school issue,” he said. “You’re either for it, or against it.”

District officials have said this levy is crucial to operating the schools.

Including homestead exemptions, the operating levy would cost owners of a $100,000 home $10 per month. Operating levies are used to pay for regular expenses, like salaries and classroom materials, in the school district.

The levy is expected to generate about $3.33 million each year for the Lakewood City Schools if passed. The levy would bring in less money the first year, since it would only be in effect for half the year.

Collections would not begin until 2014.

District officials have said that the 6.9-mill levy passed in 2009 has been “wiped out” by cuts made by the state.