POLAND, Ohio (WKBN) — According to unofficial returns, Poland voters rejected a proposed bond issue and tax levy Tuesday night that would have allowed for the construction of new school buildings within the district.

The plan was to build a new elementary school on the North Elementary site, a new middle school on the current site and a new high school on the current site.

Poland Superintendent Craig Hockenberry cited a “crowded ballot” as a partial reason for the bond issue’s failure.

“There was a police levy and township stuff as well,” Hockenberry said. “We knew it was going to be a challenge.”

Hockenberry also said he believes global events in the last year and a half — when the proposal was first introduced to the public — were also factors to the issue’s rejection.

“All this uncertainty, all these unknowns and all these things we couldn’t control kind of factored into this whole process,” Hockenberry said.

The Poland School Board unanimously agreed on a plan to replace its buildings in May.

The total cost to the district would have been $105 million. The plan included a 36-year bond issue at 12.1 mills. The tax levy, at a rate of 0.5 mill, would have generated about $227,000 overall.

“I think everybody wants new buildings, they want things fixed up, but it’s challenging to pay for it,” Hockenberry said.

A home appraised at $100,000 would have paid $424 per year under the bond. Under the levy, the same home would have paid $18 per year.