New Miami nixed

A combination bond issue and income tax that would have meant a new athletic stadium for in Butler County’s New Miami school district and more teachers for the 900-student district was today overwhelmingly rejected by voters 73 percent to 27 percent, with all four of district’s precincts reporting, according to unofficial results.

New Miami Schools Superintendent Robert Bierly said he was disappointed and surprised by the 46 percentage-point margin of defeat of its combination 3.25-mill bond issue and a 0.75 percent income tax increase.

Bierly said "we have to make some decisions" about budget cuts, including the district’s after-school academic programs, which helped raise the district in recent years from one of Greater Cincinnati’s lowest rated to the state’s second highest rating of "effective."

The bond issue would have paid for a new $2.1 million athletic facility that would have doubled as a community sports center for the community just north of Hamilton.

- Michael Clark