After a painful defeat in 2011, the Richfield School Board and referendum advocates are without a doubt happy about the outcome at the polls Tuesday night.

According to unofficial results, Richfield voters not only voted to renew the soon-to-expire referendum (14,544 "yes" to 4,965 "no" votes), but also approved a small increase, which will result in an additional $16 in property taxes per year for the average homeowner.

Voters saw two questions on the ballot—one for a renewal and one for a renewal with an increase. There were 12,348 votes cast in favor of the renewal with the increase and 7,092 against it, according to the unofficial results. The referendum has a 10-year life.

While the additional funding will be a big help, Superintendent Bob Slotterback has said a few times that the district will still need to make cuts to the tune of about $1.2 million.

Of course, this means increasing class sizes, potential increases in fees and programming cuts will be necessary. However, the cuts and increases are not nearly as drastic as they would be if the measures failed.

More election results can be found on the Minnesota Secretary of State's website. The office has yet to officially rule on the results.

Richfield Patch will continue its coverage of local, state and national races in the coming days.

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