Voters in the Hallsville School District are wondering what comes next after the Missouri State Auditor’s Office has yet to certify the April election results where voters approved a $6.5 million bond. The bond issue was to help pay for parking and traffic improvements, new classrooms, athletic fields, and security upgrades.
Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick told Missourinet the first thing to note is his office never received the Hallsville bond for certification and state law is very clear about how counties are required to notice about elections.
They’re required to publish a sample ballot in the newspaper two times before the election and one of those notices is required by law to be published in the second week prior to the election,” said Fitzpatrick.
“Second notice is required to be published within one week of the election, and in the case of Hallsville it is my understanding that the Boone County Clerk published those notices three weeks and two weeks prior to the election,” said Fitzpatrick, a Republican.
Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon is a Democrat.
Questions have been raised about why Fitzpatrick’s office approved a similar bond issue for the Centralia School District.
Fitzpatrick’s office said in a press release that was based in part on the representation of bond counsel that the publication requirements were met, when in fact he said they were not.
The Hallsville School District may once again have to ask voters to approve the $6.5 million no tax increase bond issue.
Fitzpatrick told Missourinet the Boone County Clerk’s office made a clerical error in publishing a notice of bond election in a newspaper for the affected area in the manner required by state law.
“Well again Hallsville never submitted their bond to use to even review it,” said Fitzpatrick.
“You know everybody is aware that the Boone County Clerk did not meet the state law for requirement on publication.
We don’t know if that’s the only deficiency or not, so we reviewed other things as well, and so, if they have come to the conclusion that the current bond transcript is not sufficient to meet the laws then they would need to go have another vote.”
Missourinet has reached out to the Hallsville School District Communications Director multiple times for comment on this story and as of press time did not receive a response.
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