SCHOOL DISTRICTS PUSH FOR CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE ON VOTES NEEDED TO PASS BOND ISSUES

Again this year, a proposal to do away with the required super-majority vote on local school and municipal bond issues is being pushed in the Missouri Legislature.

Under a proposed amendment to the state Constitution, a simple majority would pass bond proposals. Currently, a four-tenths majority is required during municipal, primary and general elections, and a two-thirds majority is needed during all other elections.

Missouri is one of only nine states that require super-majorities to pass bond issues. Over the past five years, 105 school-bond issues in Missouri have won simple majorities but failed to pass because of the super-majority requirement.

Kelly School District Superintendent Don Abner says his district has outgrown buildings and has been unable to get two recent bond issues passed for new buildings. One received 49 percent of the vote, but the last one got 52 percent, which would have resulted in passage had it not been for the super-majority requirement. Meanwhile, Kelly students must use temporary classrooms at considerable cost to the district.

If approved by the Legislature, voters would get the opportunity in November to vote on a constitutional amendment.

The super-majority requirement gives those opposed to bond issues more power than those who favor them, and the requirement flies in the face of the one-man, one-vote concept. It is detrimental to too many needed improvements in school districts and cities. Tax decisions should never be made lightly, but it is time to let voters decide if they want a simple majority in this case.