WEST UNION, W.Va. — The Doddridge County Clerk’s office released the final results of elections within their county, and the proposed tax levy failed for the first time in over 30 years.
On election night, the levy received an approval rating of 59.84 percent, falling short of the required 60 percent by only 10 votes.
During canvassing on Monday, 31 provisional ballots and one absentee ballot was added to the count, which could have potentially changed the vote because the margin was so slim.
Greg Cottrill, director of the Doddridge County Park and Recreation Commission, said the failure of the levy would mean big changes within the park system.
“The levy has been in place in Doddridge County for a little over 30 years,” Cottrill said. “It supports four agencies: the park system, the library, the health department, and the extension services, and those agencies all operate and do many of the programs that support the citizens and the youth of this county because of the levy. So its falling short negatively impacts the operation of all those agencies.”
Cathy Ash, librarian of the Doddridge County Public Library, said the library relied heavily on the levy for things like summer reading programs and buying books and DVD’s. She said that the library would have to explore other options, and that the four agencies could potentially run the levy again in the spring.
Beth Rogers, the Doddridge County clerk, said the failure of the levy would certainly hurt the four agencies that relied on it.
Staff writer Austin Weiford can be reached at 304-626-1447 or [email protected]. You can also follow him on Twitter @aweiford_theet.
