Update 9:30 p.m.
Superintendent Erwin Garcia told MTN he was disappointed to see the results, but also understood where voters were coming from.
"We respect the voters' decision," Garcia said Tuesday evening. "We understand there are some constraints that specifically homeowners and tax payers are feeling."
Click here to hear what Garcia had to say:
Garcia said that the district will regroup, and despite the tax weariness, continue to ask the public for money in the future when it is needed.
“It is part of my responsibility as the superintendent and part of the responsibility of the board to bring these needs in front of the tax payers,” Garcia said. "Clearly, we have more work to do when it comes to communicating our needs."
Garcia also promised that his team will continue to do all they can for the students.
"We will continue supporting students and we will continue providing quality education," Garcia said.
Update 8:30 p.m.
Two Billings school levy measures and a Laurel school bond measure were failing by wide margins in early returns Tuesday night.
Each Billings measure, one for elementary and one for high school, was failing with about 61 percent opposing.
The Laurel bond saw about 67 percent of voters in opposition.
All six precincts countywide were reporting, and voter turnout was about 34 percent.
Click here to see all the latest results in all races in Yellowstone County.
(original story) Yellowstone County is counting ballots on Tuesday on two big school measures: a $5.1 million operational levy request from Billings School District 2 and a $62.8 million bond to improve Laurel High School.
The Billings levy covers both elementary and high schools. If approved, the owner of a $600,000 home would see a tax increase of $100, and schools would receive 5% to 7% in extra funding.
The vote comes during ongoing teacher contract negotiations. Billings Teacher Union Education President Lance Edwards said teacher contracts expire this year, and as of Monday, they were making good progress, hoping to finalize teacher contracts before school is out.
Related: Billings school trustees ask voters to approve two levies totaling $5.1M
In Laurel, the district is seeking to tackle deferred maintenance projects and complete significant upgrades to the facilities housing the school's trade programs, such as welding and Family and Consumer Sciences.
Related: Laurel proposing $62.8 million bond for high school repairs and upgrades
Yellowstone County Election Administrator Dayna Causby warned that a high number of ballots are at risk of not being counted.
"So we have found that voters, we are still experiencing a high rejection rate for our ballots. Voters have been missing the new requirement to include the birth year on their ballot," Causby said.
Last October, a new state law went into effect requiring voters to place their birth year on absentee ballots. This caused hundreds of ballots to be flagged in Yellowstone County in last November's election, although many people were able to add their birth year before the final count and certification. About 2 percent of votes countywide were rejected during that election, around three times larger than normal.
Ballot counting began at noon Tuesday and runs until 8 p.m. Voters whose ballots have been rejected have until Wednesday at 5 p.m. to add their birth year.
