Safety levies fail by large margins in Billings [Video]

The Billings Public School’s perpetual elementary and high school safety levies were overwhelmingly defeated in Tuesday’s mail-in ballot election.

Votes in favor of the elementary levy came in at 10,094, while 17,787 voted against. Votes in favor of the high school levy ended at 11,446, with 20,229 against. 

At least 95,283 district residents voted, a 37.1% turnout. 

“The root cause of the challenge right now is tax exhaustion,” district Superintendent Erwin Garcia said after the results came in Tuesday night. “We will continue to be creative looking for grants and opportunities to maximize resources, but we’re not going to pursue high ticket items because we can’t afford it.”

The district will regroup, reassess and plans to ask for a safety levy again in the spring. 

“We’re not going to sacrifice the safety of our students at any cost, so safety continues to be a priority for SD2,” Garcia said. “The safety needs of our kids are not going away. …