The administrators, staff, and supporters of the Butler County School System breathed a collective sigh of relief on Tuesday when the School Tax Renewal on the ballots passed with flying colors.

The final tally was 3,722 “yes” votes (76.02 percent of the voters) versus 1,174 “no” votes (23.98 percent of the voters).

“I am ecstatic that the people of Butler County overwhelmingly voted ‘yes’ to continue the ad valorem tax for another 10 years,” said BCSS superintendent Darren Douthitt. “This vote was the right thing – the human thing to do.”

Allen Stephenson, who worked a tireless one-man campaign in support of the renewal across the county in the weeks leading up to the June 1 primary, said he was “glad to have that behind us.”

“I didn’t want to see us have to go through another special election and spending more taxpayers’ money as we did a decade ago,” Stephenson said. “We have to have those matching funds to operate our schools.”

When asked about the one-quarter of voters who cast a “no” vote, Stephenson gave a philosophical shrug.

“Unfortunately, you have a certain number of people who are against everything. Doesn’t seem to matter what it is, they are going to vote against it.”

Douthitt sees the “nay-sayers” as another challenge to be met by the new superintendent.

“The no votes confirm my belief that one of my biggest tasks as superintendent is fully restoring the public’s trust in Butler County Schools. I would like to thank everyone who helped get the tax renewal passed – especially Mr. Stephenson.”