Blooming Prairie voters passed one operating levy Tuesday by just eight votes. Four members were elected to the school board.

Of 2,639 registered voters, about 50 percent, or 1,305 voters cast ballots on election day.

The passed levy revokes an existing levy, which is set to expire in two years. An existing $350 per student levy will be replaced with a 10-year $700 per student levy.

The taxes amount to about $72 annually on a $100,000 home and $144 annually on a $200,000 home. The levy will not tax agricultural land, only the homestead and one acre.

This additional money will go into the district’s general budget to help build the district’s fund balance and prevent cuts to programs and staff.

Another three-year levy that would have given the district an additional $200 per student did not pass. The money from this levy would have went toward things like improving technology in the schools and making improvements to the preschool program, everyday kindergarten and college in the schools.

This second levy would have been a separate tax, adding additional taxes to roughly double the first levy.

More than 90 percent of the schools in the state have operating levies. A total of 58 schools across the state voted on levies Tuesday.

Four school board members were also elected. Incumbent Rodney Krell, and Jamie Bodenstab, Ron Janning and Linda Kaplan were elected.

They were the only candidates running for four open seats.