Voters Approve Watonga Bond for New Facilities

WATONGA – The voters of central Blaine County handed a victory to Watonga Public Schools on Tuesday, granting the district’s request for a nearly $20 million bond issue to finance construction of new athletics and cafeteria facilities.

The bond was approved by 465 voters out of 643 total votes cast, or 72.32%, according to preliminary results released by the Oklahoma State Election Board. The district needed 60% approval for the bond.

With the funds, Watonga will build a new gymnasium for basketball, wrestling and assemblies; a concessions/restrooms/locker room facility in the end zone of the football field; a new elementary school cafeteria; and an upgraded wrestling room.

The district has also promised STEM labs to promote science and technology education on both its campuses, as well as parking upgrades and other ancillary benefits. The bond will hike area property taxes by about 7.49% and bring the district’s levy to 25 mills.

The vote marks an early success for Watonga Superintendent Kyle Hilterbran, who took the job in 2021.

Caddo County

Down in Caddo County, the results were less favorable for the entities asking for public funds.

The Town of Hinton’s proposal to slightly raise the sales tax to finance infrastructure projects was narrowly defeated at the ballot box Tuesday. Out of 189 votes cast, 98 residents voted against the increase, a margin of just seven votes.

Hinton only needed a simple majority to pass the tax. The town will now have to reevaluate or seek alternate funding for its projects.

The results for the Caddo Kiowa Technology Center were not as close. The Fort Cobb vo-tech school, which serves Caddo County and portions of surrounding counties like Blaine and Canadian, wanted a property-tax increase to create a building fund for new construction and renovations.

But less than 22% of voters agreed to that increase out of 2,210 votes cast. A second question, which would have made the levy permanent, failed by an even greater margin.