It turns out there were 212 deciding votes on the half-cent sales tax increase in San Juan Bautista, at least according to unofficial results.
As of now, Measure U failed by one vote after elections officials counted remaining provisional and absentee ballots - a stunning reversal to the seven vote lead on Tuesday night for the "yes" side.
San Benito County's head elections official Joe Paul Gonzalez announced the final, unofficial count late Friday.
After elections workers counted the remaining 2,000 ballots - a much higher number than first estimated and one that boosts the local turnout to a more respectable 35.1 percent - the count stood at 212 to 211 in favor of killing the increase.
Gonzalez said the office will conduct a recount in that race because the margin is within the 1 percent "magic number" range for such action, but he doesn't expect another flop to the result.
"It's not likely because these are optically scanned ballots," he said.
The elections office intends to start the recount Wednesday, as well as a standard canvass for the entire election, Gonzalez said.
The unofficial rejection comes seven months after San Juan voters defeated a 1 percent sales tax hike by a much wider margin and leaves officials left to figure out the city's financial demise without the increase that could have generated about $125,000 annually.
San Juan Bautista Councilwoman Priscilla Hill declined to comment until an official canvass can be finished.
"It isn't canvassed yet so it isn't complete," said Hill, who supported the tax hike alongside her council peers.
The Mission City faces perhaps its most serious economic crisis ever, as a general economic slump has been compounded by a sharp decrease in tourism and, more recently, officials' mishaps leading to the loss of a $3.5 million federal grant meant to fix San Juan's water system.
With council members and recently fired City Manager Jan McClintock unable to stem San Juan's financial collapse, the range of cuts have affected every level of services and most notably resulted in the cutting of a fire chief and sheriff's deputy and reduced library hours. San Juan officials also recently closed the city's sheriff's office branch, and citizens now must rely on one deputy stationed in Hollister to respond to problems there.
Still, considering the sales tax result and a 7-point loss for the $18 million Measure V school bond also on Tuesday's ballot there, it's apparent that a strong presence of San Juan voters oppose using a tax hike to curb city or Aromas-San Juan Unified School District budget woes.
"It's just how the people wanted to vote," Hill said.
The hefty number of remaining ballots resulted in the 35.1 percent turnout number - a healthy boost to the 26 percent declared Tuesday.
Kollin Kosmicki Kollin Kosmicki is editor of the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 337 or editor@freelancenews.com.
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