BALLOT WORDING LEFT MANY IN THE DARK ON ROLLBACK ISSUE

In the wake of Cape Girardeau public school's failed tax increase, some voters have questioned whether or not the wording on the ballot was too complex.

Larry Dew, business manager for Cape Girardeau public schools, said, "The wording we used was from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which came from their legal staff and was reviewed by the attorney general and by our attorney, Joe Russell."

Over 200 districts in Missouri who have voted on Proposition C rollback waivers have used essentially the same wording.

Dew said school districts have little latitude when wording ballots. "It's prescribed by law," he said.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller agreed.

"Normally that language is taken from recommended language from statute books or as passed along in new laws," Miller said.

"Our only discretion here as far of the wording is if it falls within the basic requirements of the statue," Miller said.

A number of other area schools have had Proposition C rollback waivers on the ballot.

Miller said he heard no complaints about the wording of other school waiver ballots.

"I did hear quite a number of concerns this time," he said.

Cape Girardeau's ballot read:

School Board Proposition -- Waiver of Proposition C Rollback

(Section 163.021 RSMo, as amended by Senate Bill 380)

Shall the Cape Girardeau School District No. 63 be authorized to eliminate the reduction in the operating levy for school purposes provided under 164.013 RSMo.?

When Jackson voters decided essentially the same issue Oct. 5, 1993, the ballot read:

Proposition #1

Partial Waiver of Proposition C Rollback

(Section 163.021 RSMo, as amended by Senate Bill 380)

Shall the school board of Jackson R-2 School District be authorized to eliminate that portion of the reduction in the operating levy for school purposes as provided under Section 164.013 RSMo. in an amount sufficient to meet the minimum operating levy required for increases in state funding pursuant to Section 163.021 RSMo.?

Voters in Oak Ridge and Delta school districts also approved partial waivers of their Proposition C rollback in October 1993. The ballots were worded the same as Jackson's ballot, except the name of the school was changed.

Jackson Superintendent Wayne Maupin said the ballot wording they used was also suggested by Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"A lot of ballot language is confusing," Maupin said. "For some reason, you can't state things in simpler terms. In some bond issues we've had over here, it would have been nice to put that in simpler, layman's terms. It just can't be done."

Maupin said ballot language is always checked twice by an attorney.

"We have to make sure it is not misleading the voters," he said. "That's why the language ends up the way it does."