Approval rates of local school bond and tax elections (2011)
In order to gauge approval ratings for school issues, the calendar year was split into two parts to see how well school issues fared during the first half and second half of the year. The first part of the year covered January through June and the second part covered July through December. The states which were followed in detail are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. See Balltopedia's county evaluation study for how well the counties in the states above report election information online.
However, it must be noted that in some states, although detailed coverage of local measures is not available, some times results are available in state government databases or databases provided by non-government websites. In such cases, we supplement our statistics with the additional information in order to provide a better picture of local measure approval ratings. Such was the case in 2011. Additional states in the study include New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas. In the Overall Totals section, the addition of 2010 was used to show comparisons between states; New York was not followed in 2010 because the database information was not available at the time of the study. Iowa though was followed in 2010, but not in 2011, as there was additional information available in 2010 but it was not followed in 2011 or added later to the study.
This study is conducted annually. Below are the results for 2011 with comparisons to 2010. Click here for a look at all of 2011's local ballot measure elections and the ballot measure text. (Click here for 2010)
The numbers
Approval rates
Overall approval of school issues in the first half of the year was at 63.9% while in the second half of the year the approval dropped to 46.6%. The second study highlighted additional states which had databases of total school issues for the entire year. Those states included New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas. With those additional states added, the adjusted overall approval for the second half of the year study was 68.1%. Combining both studies' totals results in an approval rating of 72.9% for school issues for the entire year of 2011.
The table below breaks down votes into bonds and taxes and combines the totals for the entire year of 2011.
| Type of school finance measure | # of elections 2011 (2010) | # of approvals 2011 (2010) | % approved 2011 (2010) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonds | 151 (331) | 119 (220) | 51.7% (60.1%) |
| Taxes, tax levies | 507 (184) | 216 (495) | 61.3% (56.97%) |
| Totals: | 658 (515) | 335 (715) | 50.9% (41.8%) |
| Bonds (Adjusted)[1] | 166 | 75 | 68.9% |
| Totals: | 824 (515) | 410 (715) | 66.1% (41.8%) |
Rates by state
The table below features the overall school bond and tax results by state. A total of 15 states were included in the study: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
The 2010 totals are also included in parenthesis in order to provide a comparison between the two years.
New York was not followed in 2010 because the database information was not available at the time of the study. Iowa was followed in 2010, but not in 2011 because there was additional information available in 2010 but not in 2011 at the time of the study was conducted. These results may be added to the study at a later date.
|
Legend Winning percentage above 70% Winning percentage below 50% |
| State | Approved 2011 (2010) | Defeated 2011 (2010) | % approved 2011 (2010) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 20 (32) | 27 (31) | 43% (51%) |
| California | 13 (43) | 3 (31) | 81% (58%) |
| Colorado | 8 (14) | 27 (6) | 23% (70%) |
| Florida | 1 (16) | 0 (9) | 100% (64%) |
| Iowa | n/a (8) | n/a (1) | n/a (89%) |
| Illinois | 14 (12) | 20 (18) | 41% (40%) |
| Michigan | 120 (115) | 47 (40) | 72% (74%) |
| Missouri | 26 (39) | 10 (16) | 72% (71%) |
| New Mexico | 11 (10) | 1 (0) | 92% (100%) |
| New Jersey | 429 (14) | 109 (13) | 80% (52%) |
| New York | 633 (n/a) | 45 (n/a) | 93% (n/a) |
| Ohio | 189 (198) | 207 (191) | 47% (51%) |
| Oregon | 5 (7) | 12 (6) | 29% (54%) |
| Texas | 70 (45) | 38 (33) | 65% (58%) |
| Washington | 66 (185) | 33 (23) | 67% (89%) |
| Wisconsin | 35 (62) | 30 (60) | 54% (51%) |
| Totals: | 1,640 (800) | 609 (478) | 72.9% (62.6%) |
Bond money
The table below shows how much money was voted on in bond measures for local schools. The amounts show how much bond money was approved in the state and how much did not get approved, totals are in millions and includes ALL the measures in 2011, NOT just the second half of the year.
Only the state of Florida did not have any school bonds for the year, of the ten that did have school bond elections only two, Arizona and Missouri, had approval ratings above 50%. California is the only state which had a higher number of bonds approved but had more money defeated than approved.
|
Legend Winning percentage above 70% Winning percentage below 50% |
| State | Amount Approved | Amount Defeated | % approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $709.8 M | $54.8 M | 93% |
| California | $981.1 M | $1,392 M | 41% |
| Colorado | $105 M | $696.62 M | 13% |
| Florida | $0 M | $0 M | N/A |
| Illinois | $39.27 M | $326.66 M | 11% |
| Michigan | $374.45 M | $667.06 M | 36% |
| Missouri | $204.09 M | $16.425 M | 93% |
| New Jersey[2] | $374.45 M | $667.06 M | 36% |
| New Mexico[3] | $63.7 M | $2.3 M | 96.52% |
| Texas[4] | $4,303.55 M | $1469.5 M | 74.55% |
| Ohio | $202.3 M | $445.11 M | 31% |
| Oregon | $244.5 M | $738.8 M | 25% |
| Washington | $91.49 M | $224.7 M | 29% |
| Wisconsin | $88.105 M | $278.295 M | 25% |
| Totals: | $7,686,810,000 | $6,979,330,000 | 52.41% |
See also
- Local ballot measure elections in 2011
- School bond and tax elections in 2011
- Where to find information about local school bond and tax elections
Articles
- Approval rating for school bond and tax issues falter in 11 states
- School bonds fared lower approval ratings with nearly $8 billion voted on in 2011
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: The Adjusted number includes two additional states, New Mexico, and Texas which have state databases giving election results for school bond proposals held throughout the year. The two additional state statistics are for the entire year of 2011, not split as the other states have been.
- ↑ December Vote Ends Difficult Year for School Construction Referendums, December 11, 2013
- ↑ RESULTS OF BOND ELECTIONS AROUND NEW MEXICO
- ↑ Texas Bond Review Board, 2011 Figures
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