At 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, election night, Portland Public Schools looked likely to gain voter approval for re-upping its bond measure.

And in the following days, as more ballots drifted in, the district increased its lead, from 53.7% “yes” votes on Tuesday, up to an estimated 60% “yes” as of Friday, May 23.

For many Portlanders, this was the biggest issue on an otherwise low-wattage ballot. PPS had been looking to renew a bond measure approved by voters in 2012, 2017 and 2020. If the results stay the same, the money will be used primarily to replace or renovate several PPS schools.

Turnout often is low in an off-year, May election with no high-profile, big-name candidates running for office. But this ballot drew a relatively large voter turnout. The count of accepted ballots in Multnomah County had climbed to 26.2% as of Friday. That was up considerably from end-of-day on the Monday before Election Day, which hit only 14.8%.

Unless there is a dramatic turnaround, which is unlikely, the impact on property owners will not change. The property tax rate will remain where it is now, at $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That hasn’t changed since 2017. The owner of a home assessed at $284,003 — the average assessed property value for residential property in the Portland Public Schools District, according to PPS Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong— will pay approximately $59 per month.

School board races

Friday morning results show challenger Rashelle Chase-Miller crushing incumbent Herman Greene by about 60% to 40%, for a seat on the Portland School Board, representing Zone 4. That was one of few real surprises in an otherwise predictable election night in Multnomah County.

Incumbent Christy Splitt will keep her Zone 1 seat, while Virginia La Forte and Jorge Sanchez Bautista are in a race too close to call for the Zone 5 seat.

Stephanie Engelsman has an unbeatable, 82% “yes” count for the Zone 6 seat. Neither Zone 5 nor 6 featured incumbents seeking re-election.

There will be no surprises for the Portland Community College Board of Directors. Incumbents who ran unchallenged include Laurie Cremona Wagner in Zone 1; and Dan Saltzman, a former Portland city commissioner, in Zone 5.

With no incumbent in Zone four, unchallenged newcomer Brandy Penner will take the seat.

Gina Sanchez Roletto ran unopposed for Zone 7.

Other elections on the May ballots include candidate races for Mount Hood community colleges’ boards of directors; other local school board and educational service district candidates; and special district elections such as the Multnomah Rural Fire Protection District.

Final election results won’t be certified until Monday, June 16, because ballots mailed to Multnomah County Elections and received by Tuesday, May 27, can still be counted.