Jasper County wants to wait until 2026 to reintroduce bond issue on ballots

While it was determined the failure of the $6.4 million Jasper County bond issue came down to around 32 votes, the board of supervisors have decided not to put the public measure on ballots in 2025, but officials have every intention of moving forward with another vote in 2026 and will go hard on messaging that same year.

Results from the 2024 general election show 10,507 people voted in favor of the bond issue, which was about 58.75 percent of the votes. The county needed 60 percent in order to move forward with its Liberty Avenue Campus Bond Project, which would ultimately construct a secondary roads maintenance building.

Supervisor Brandon Talsma said during a recent work session that the county was short 1.25 percent, which the auditor’s office found that effectively amounts to 32 affirmative votes. Voting data also showed voters in a majority of precincts were generally in favor of the bond issue, which was positive news for Talsma.

“One of the things that stuck out to me from the numbers was the rate of approval within city limits and the fact it was pretty consistent outside city limits by individual townships of approval-disapproval, with the exception of two, which were considerably lower than most of the other townships,” Talsma said.

If the bond issue turnout had been closer to 50 percent, Talsma said he would consider dropping the idea. But because the turnout was so close he felt like the county could try to make another run at it. However, he was adamantly against having it on a school board and city council election ballot.

“If you look at the voter turnout, it is abysmal in that election,” he said. “Last election we didn’t even hit 7,000 people. It was less than 40 percent voter participation. Now, I do think if we were to have this ballot measure on there (in 2025) it may boost it a little bit, but you’re still looking at an abysmal turnout.”

Other supervisors agreed that having the bond issue on a ballot during a historically lower voter turnout election cycle might give the wrong message. Talsma said it might give residents the impression the county wants to forcibly or underhandedly push the project through.

“And, as a rural resident myself, most rural residents don’t even vote in the city or school election,” Talsma said, also noting schools or cities may have their own public measures. “…I do also feel like it’s backdooring by taking an election that has a lower voter turnout to try and pass a multi-million-dollar bond issuance.”

Supervisor Doug Cupples suggested if it hadn’t rained prior to Election Day that the turnout would have been better for the county. Talsma argued against that claim, suggesting the early voting data shows weather had no impact on the turnout. Talsma also initially thought the weather affecting roads swayed the vote.

“It had nothing to do with environmental conditions. I was banking on it, too. I was like, ‘Oh yeah our early votes are going to be 62 or 63 percent, and the day of election is going to be like 47 or 48.’ It was not,” Talsma said. “Early votes were right around 58 percent and the day of votes were right around 58 percent.”

Feedback that supervisors received also indicated that people were not well educated on the bond issue and its ensuing projects, despite the county holding several in-person and digital town halls about the project. Jasper County Engineer Michael Frietsch said he plans to start hosting events to help.

In the near future, Frietsch will host public “Ask the Engineer” events where citizens are encouraged to meet with him and secondary roads crews to share grievances and concerns about gravel roads. Frietsch said the events could help share more information about the project well in advance of a ballot measure.

Supervisors were in consensus that it was worth it to make another run at it.

“We’re talking 32 votes. We’re talking 1.25 percent. It’s not like the thing was overwhelmingly shut down,” Talsma said. “We were close. We were really close.”

Originally, the bond issue would have helped kickstart a number of other county projects for both the sheriff’s office and county conservation.

So in addition to the new and upgraded facility for the engineer’s office staff, the county will gain a new training center for law enforcement, a base for the advanced life support program, outfitted classrooms for nature center and two maintenance replacement sheds in county parks.