UPDATED: Chemeketa bond measure passing following Marion County ballot drop
Update, 8:20 a.m. Wednesday, May 21: Chemeketa Community College’s tax renewal measure is passing with 51% of the vote following a late night ballot tally from Marion County.
The yes vote was up by 1,787 votes, with 33,523 voters in support.
Original story below:
Voters appear evenly split on whether to approve a bond to fund construction and career education programs at Chemeketa Community College.
With 45,969 ballots counted in initial results Tuesday, the yeses are ahead by just 35 votes.
Figures include voters across the college’s service area, which covers Marion, Polk, Yamhill counties and a small section of Linn County.
The bond would keep property tax rates at 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, about $61 per year for the average Salem home.
The current bonds, which this would have replaced, will expire in June 2026. That would slightly decrease property tax rates for voters if the new bond is not passed.
This was the second time the college asked voters to approve the bond in a year. In November 2024, around 58% of voters rejected the bond. Chemeketa’s Board of Education voted in February to put the bond back on the ballot after polling found most voters were unaware the measure wouldn’t raise their tax rates.
In Marion County, 53% of voters approved the bond, while in Polk County, 55% of voters rejected it, according to initial results.
The bond would be in place for around 21 years and raise a total $140 million.
Most of the bond’s funding, 65%, would go towards upgrading classrooms for career and technical education programs, Chemeketa’s president Jessica Howard said in February.
The bond would support upgrades at six of Chemeketa’s campuses including a new science lab in Woodburn.
Correction: Due to an editing error, this story initially misstated how many no votes the measure had. Salem Reporter apologizes for the error.
Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].
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Madeleine Moore joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and reports on a variety of topics including public safety, addiction, treatment and the criminal justice system. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon in June 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
