Local Ballots Include School, Emergency Funding

Randolph County, West Virginia, approved a 10-cent fee on most purchases and services to support emergency ambulance service, effective Dec. 1, 2026, with several exemptions. Elsewhere, voters will consider a half-cent sales tax for Marshall County, Oklahoma’s EMS service, an $18.6 million pathways bond in Commerce Township and Wolverine Lake, Michigan, and renewals of mental-health services levies in four Ohio counties. School funding is also prominent: 73 Wisconsin districts are slated to hold 78 referendum votes, and districts including Middleton-Cross Plains, Delavan-Darien and Lake Mills warn that rejected operating referendums could prompt cuts; Lake Mills seeks $2.9 million annually for four years to address projected deficits. Webb City, Missouri, is considering a property-tax levy to preserve staffing and class sizes and a no-tax-increase bond for elementary-school renovations, expansion and storm shelters; Hansen, Idaho, seeks renewal of a $290,000 annual levy for two years to support special education and other programs; and Bland ISD, Texas, seeks approval for an 8.49% increase in maintenance-and-operations revenue, projected at $268,919. Other school proposals include a $74 million bond in Louisiana’s Calcasieu Parish School District 30, a $1.51 billion, 20-year bond plan in Dearborn, Michigan, and two facility and safety bonds in Kansas’ Jefferson County North district, including one for nearly $3.5 million. Supporters cite local service, education and safety needs, while opponents in some communities object to additional taxes.