Election Day April 5, 2022

Lewis County will have a General Municipal Election on April 5, 2022. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Canton, LaBelle, Lewistown and Ewing citizens will vote for aldermen, with Lewistown also voting for Mayor. The city of Lewistown will vote on authorizing to forego annual elections if the number of candidates who have filed for a particular office is equal to the number of positions in the office to be filled by the election.

Proposition K.I.D.S: Canton R-V School District will be asking voters on April 5, 2022 to allow the school district to borrow $3.4 million for the addition of an Early Learning Center for preschool age children and other improvement projects. This ballot issue is considered a “no tax increase” program because the current $0.55 debt service fund tax levy is adequate enough to repay the District’s current debt plus the $3.4 million in new bonds by extending the tax levy for approximately 9 years. Through good fiscal decision-making, Canton R-V School District is in a position to extend the current debt service fund levy to complete a large-scale capital improvement project without increasing current taxes. Some of these decisions have included previous bond refinancing that totaled $1,488,158 in interest savings. 

Lewis County Commissioners provided the following information on two Propositions on the ballot.  

Proposition R is asking the voters of Lewis County whether or not to continue the Common Road District 1 of Lewis County tax levy of 21 cents per hundred dollars valuation for a period of four (4) years, per Article 10. Section 12A of the Constitution of Missouri. This is an existing tax approved by the voters in 2018. This tax brings in around $120,00.00 per year and is used directly for the maintenance of roads and bridges. 

Proposition P is a ballot measure that was added to the April ballot by the current Assistant Prosecutor after she obtained a required number of signatures and presented her petition to the Lewis County Commission. Proposition P will ask voters to change the Lewis County Prosecutor’s position from a part-time position to a full-time position. The State of Missouri requires the pay for a full-time prosecutor to be equal to that of the associate circuit judge. This will result in a mandatory salary increase from the current wage of $58,866.97 to the state required wage of $146,011.41, which is a 148 percent increase. The increase in wage will be paid by the citizens of Lewis County. No part of this salary is reimbursable by the State of Missouri, and the state has control of this salary and can increase it without any input from the county. As it is now, the County Prosecutor can engage in the private practice of law. Our County Prosecutors office has always been a part-time position. Should Proposition P pass, the County Prosecutor, per State Statue, will not be allowed to practice privately.  The Commissioners of Lewis County understand the hours it takes to do all county jobs. They appreciate the work each and every county employee does to make our county safe, secure and a great place to live. They have tried to keep all starting wages for their employees competitive in order to recruit the necessary people to keep our county running smoothly a 148 increase in the Prosecutor’s salary will have a direct effect of the wages they are able to pay new recruits and current employees.