Newport City Hall. Unofficial results show Measure 21-244, the city’s infrastructure bond, leading by a wide margin. Photo: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Unofficial results from the Nov. 3 general election show Newport voters backing Measure 21-244, the city’s $38 million infrastructure bond, by a wide margin. The Lincoln County clerk’s fourth unofficial report, released Nov. 10 at 5 p.m. with about 97 percent of ballots counted, recorded 3,678 yes votes and 844 no votes.
Those numbers are unofficial. The Oregon secretary of state has said county ballot challenges can be resolved through Nov. 24, and that statewide results will be certified on Dec. 10. Oregon law also requires post-election audits before the results are final. Until that certification, the bond should be described as leading, not as a certified result.
The city has described the proposal as a replacement bond, not a new tax layered on top of existing ones. On its Measure 21-244 page, Newport said the $38 million issue would pay for work on water, wastewater, transportation and pedestrian safety, parks and city facilities, and that it was designed to keep the tax rate similar to the current bond levy. The city said the 2027 rate on two existing bonds, for the water treatment plant and the aquatic center, is set at $1.63 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value, and that the replacement bond is estimated to maintain that projected levy rate. Actual bills can still differ as property values change. The bond would be repaid over 20 years, and a Bond Advisory Committee would be formed if it is approved.
The city’s page, which still reads in places as a pre-election explainer, is the official description of what the money is for. The unofficial tally is the clerk’s.
