Four were elected to the Waterloo School Board and a proposed non-home rule sales tax of .25 percent failed by a wide margin in Columbia as a result of Tuesday’s election.Meanwhile, a single vote decided the race for Valmeyer Village Board.

It was a slow day for election officials in Monroe County, as the election drew little voter interest. Voter turnout was slightly less than nine percent overall.

Winning seats on the Waterloo School Board were incumbents Valerie Baxmeyer and Jodi Burton along with newcomers Lori Dillenberger and Gary Most. Dillenberger received 21 percent of the vote (866), followed by Most at 19 percent, Baxmeyer at 18.6 percent and Burton at 18 percent. James Yaekel (15 percent) and Alan Horn (8.5 percent) came up short in their school board election bids.

In Columbia, voters rejected a proposed sales tax with 65 percent (427) voting against and 35 percent (228) voting in favor. If approved, the .25 percent sales tax would have helped fund high-priority infrastructure projects to improve streets, bridges, sidewalks and parks in town. The city anticipated the tax would have brought in about $160,000 in additional revenue per year if it had passed. Groceries, medications and titled personal property would have been exempt from the proposed tax.

There was excitement in the small town of Valmeyer on Tuesday night as four candidates ran for three seats on the village board. Both incumbents, Robert D. Mohr and Bruce A. Whipple, won re-election, garnering 25 and 22.4 percent of the vote, respectively. The third seat came down to two write-in candidates not even listed on the ballot and was decided by a single vote. Kyle Duffy won with 61 votes to Tim Valentine’s 60 votes. Board member Butch Ford decided against running for re-election, leaving the open seat for which the write-ins filed.

In the contested race for Red Bud School Board, Diane Schoenbeck, Larry Gielow and Robert Doty earned seats, joining Abigail Carter, who ran unopposed.

The Waterloo City Council featured several unopposed candidates: Mayor Tom Smith, City Clerk Barb Pace, Treasurer Brad Papenberg, Ward 1 Alderman Steve Notheisen, Ward 2 Alderman Jim Hopkins and Ward 4 Alderman Clyde Heller. Stan Darter ran unopposed for Charlie Metzger’s Ward 3 seat.

The Columbia City Council also featured unopposed candidates, including Ward 1 Alderman Steven Reis, Ward 3 Alderman Jeff Huch and Ward 4 Alderman Steve Holtkamp. Kevin Martens ran unopposed for TJ Mathews’ Ward 2 seat.

The Columbia School Board had three candidates running for three seats. Scott Middelkamp and Randy Simmonds won re-election; Tammy Mitchell Hines won the seat to be vacated by Marshall Stout.

The Valmeyer School Board featured four unopposed candidates: Ginny Rusteberg, Kimberly Franke, Andrea Blackwell and Zoe Ann Schwarze.