Voters Reject Bond Issue for Schools : Lancaster: The measure designed to raise $47 million through property taxes gets 59% approval, falling short of the required two-thirds.

Voters in the cash-hungry Lancaster School District on Tuesday rejected a $47-million bond measure to finance five new schools by increasing property taxes over 30 years.

The measure gained 59% of the votes cast, failing to reach the two-thirds majority needed.

The measure was nearly identical to one fielded last April, which fell 570 votes short. But school district officials thought the measure would fare better because a special one-issue election would bring out more voters who support the school system.

In addition, the burden on individual property owners would have been lighter because tremendous growth in the area in the last year has created a larger tax base.

Passage of the measure would have resulted in a 30-year-long property tax increase for property owners in the district, which covers the central part of Lancaster. For example, the owner of a house assessed at $100,000 would pay an average of nearly $30 extra annually during the period, according to district projections. Actual year-to-year rates would vary.

The school district would sell $47 million in bonds between this year and 1997 to raise money, increasing property taxes through 2021 to pay off that debt.

District officials said they needed the money to build two middle schools and three elementary schools to keep pace with enrollment growth and to get students out of portable classrooms, which now house about one-third of the district’s 11,500 children.

Enrollment is about 6% above last year’s.