By Tim SchmidtRecord Managing EditorVoters in the Wright City R-II School District rejected a tax increase that primarily would have funded salary increases.A total of 353 voters opposed Proposition S, or 57 percent, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election. Meanwhile 264 votes, or 43 percent, were cast in support.In Warren County, 313 voters opposed the tax while 241 were in favor. Of the 63 votes cast in Lincoln County, 40 were against and 23 supported the measure.The R-II school district asked voters to pass a 49-cent increase to its operating tax levy. As part of the ballot measure, 10 cents of the existing levy earmarked for debt service was to be shifted to the operating levy, resulting in a net increase to taxpayers of 39 cents per each $100 of assessed valuation.The district planned to use the additional funding to increase salaries for teachers and staff, move forward with a mobile learning device initiative, and expand early childhood services.A simple majority was needed to pass the levy increase. The last time district voters approved an increase in the operating levy was 1993.“The voters told us they didn’t want to pay any more taxes,” Gaines said. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid we will lose some bright, young teachers over the course of time.”The district sought voter approval to offset a funding shortfall from the state. Gaines previously noted the district has missed out on an additional $550,000 in funding this year. For the past five years, the amount is closer to $3 million.The bulk of the funds from the proposed tax hike was to go toward making staff salaries more competitive. For R-II teachers, the longer they stay the less competitive their pay is compared to other districts within a 30-mile radius to the east, such as Francis Howell and the Parkway school districts, according to Gaines.The proposed tax increase also would have funded the district’s planned mobile learning initiative set to launch in the 2016-2017 school year where all students in grades four through high school would receive Chromebooks to use for schoolwork.In addition, free tuition also would have been offered for all preschool students set to attend the district’s new early childhood facility currently under construction.Now district officials will need to reassess how they move forward with these plans, Gaines said.“In the larger part, our increase was not to avoid cuts or something like that,” he remarked. “It was to fund where we wanted to be in the next few years.”Currently, the R-II’s operating levy is $3.0995 per $100 of assessed valuation, the lowest compared to neighboring districts, with the debt levy set at $1.097. Had the ballot measure passed, the district’s operating levy would have increased to $3.5895 and the debt service levy would have dropped to $0.997. For a resident within the R-II district with a $100,000 home, the tax increase would have cost an additional $6.18 per month; a $150,000 home would have been $9.26.Voters reject R-II tax increase