Sales Tax Questions Fail Tuesday; Other County Election Results

Both county sales tax questions before Effingham County voters Tuesday failed to pass, but the vote on the County School Facilities Tax was much closer than the previous time it appeared on the ballot.

The Facilities Tax question lost 3,983 No to 2,853 Yes. That's a 58% to 42% margin. That compares to when the matter was considered previously, when the question lost by a 74% to 26% margin.

Also worth noting is that the tax question received more Yes than No votes in the Teutopolis school district, where the school board is discussing ways to replace the portion of the high school building built in 1929. However, the question was decided on the countywide vote.

The 1/4% county sales tax, though, lost in every precinct, usually by substantial margins. The vote was 4,957 No to 1,831 Yes, 73% to 27%. The County Board had indicated they would use the revenue to build up a reserve of funds due to the uncertainty of state funding.

There were some other contests. 

The Altamont Unit 10 district was the only one in the county that featured contests for school board seats. In a three-way race for a two-year unexpired term, Kerry Wolff won with 479 votes to 307 votes for Adam Huston and 272 votes for Alan Kollman. In a five-person contest for three full four-year terms, Darren Feldkamp, Alan Shumaker and Ross Cornett were elected with 792, 628 and 550 votes, respectively. Clint Reardon received 457 votes and Laura Reardon received 422 votes.

There were four candidates for three Teutopolis Village Trustee seats. John Mette led the way with 363 votes. Greg Oseland and David Tegeler won the other two seats with 319 and 314 votes, respectively. Gary Vahling received 178 votes.

Jerald Shepard defeated Michael Meyers, 207 to 114, for Jackson Township Highway Commissioner, and Ed Hoopingarner, Michael Began, Don Williamson and Jeffrey Higgs were elected Jackson Township Trustees with 232, 192, 169 and 156 votes, respectively. Fred Dickmann got 134 votes and Glen McNew got 127 votes.

Steve Bergfeld defeated Brett Goeckner, 419 to 268, for Watson Township Highway Commissioner, and Sheila Percival, Diane Arnold, Billy Genaust and Jesse Ketteman were elected Watson Township Trustees with 458, 428, 411 and 361 votes, respectively. Jeremy Patnaude received 198 votes.

Luke Doedtman, Judy Wiethop, Nick Althoff and Lisa Sudkamp were elected Douglas Township Trustees with 1,266, 937, 902 and 857 votes, respectively. Paul Rexroat received 776 votes, Art Kinkelaar received 766 votes, and Gary West, Sr. received 715 votes.

Mark Brummer, Clara Schmidt, Douglas Kinkelaar and Paul Worman were elected Bishop Township Trustees with 253, 205, 191 and 173 votes, respectively. Larry Robards got 167 votes.

Joseph Thoele, Bernard Vahling, Christopher Hartke and John Miller were elected St. Francis Township Trustees with 226, 198, 180 and 136 votes, respectively. Richard Kreke got 125 votes.

In a close race for Shumway Fire Trustees, David Soltwedel and Tracy Sutter were elected with 440 votes and 415 votes, respectively. Steve Gillum got 371 votes.

Effingham County voters helped elect three Lake Land College trustees. The county vote was Mike Sullivan 2,890, Doris Reynolds 2,846, Robert Luther 2,703 and Matt Forcum 2,297.

The voter turnout Tuesday was a disappointing 29.21%. That's 6,925 votes cast of 23,706 people registered to vote.