BEAUMONT, Texas — Results in Jefferson County showed voters were in favor of going to the races and supporting a school bond in the Port Neches-Groves district.
Voters in Southeast Texas went to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots for Texas constitutional amendments as well as horse racing and off-track betting in Jefferson County. Voters also weighed in on bonds in Lumberton ISD, Port Neches-Groves ISD and Sabine Pass ISD.
Two races to allow horse racing and off-track betting in Jefferson County passed in favor of Jefferson County Propositions A & B. Election results show 54.9% of voters favored proposition A, with 52.86% favoring Proposition B.
Voters in the Port Neches-Groves school district voted 66.16% to 33.84% to pass a $130M bond for the district.
The Lumberton school district claimed victory after voters in Hardin County approved a $78M bond for the district.
Constitutional amendments
All Texas constitutional amendments except for Amendment 1 passed handily.
Proposition 1, had it passed, would have allow a single person to occupy more than one office as a municipal judge at the same time.
One of the statewide ballot's 10 propositions would make it harder for future lawmakers to enact a personal income tax. Proposition 4 would require two-thirds of the House and Senate and a majority of Texas voters to establish such a tax. Right now, a majority of both chambers and a majority of voters could enact an income tax.
Proposition 5 would send all revenue from the sporting goods sales tax toward the state Parks and Wildlife Department and the Historical Commission. It is meant to create a steady revenue stream for the state’s parks.
Proposition 10 would allow retired law enforcement animals to be adopted by their handlers, ending a requirement that the animals, as government property, be sold or destroyed when no longer in use.
Other propositions would allow the Legislature to create temporary property tax exemptions for people with property damaged in governor-declared disaster areas, let lawmakers double the maximum amount of bonds issued on behalf of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and create a flood infrastructure fund that the Texas Water Development Board could use to finance projects following a disaster.
Read about all 10 propositions here.