POSTED: Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010

Ballots in mail for special school election in Lynden, Ferndale, Meridian districts

Voters in the Ferndale, Lynden and Meridian school districts should start watching their mailboxes for special election ballots.

The Whatcom County Auditor's office is sending out ballots for the Feb. 9 special election on Wednesday, Jan. 20.

Voters will see one of the following three items on their ballot:

? Ferndale School District replacement maintenance and operations levy. The request is for a two-year levy, collecting about $11.2 million each in 2011 and 2012.

? Lynden School District replacement maintenance and operations levy. The request is for a two-year levy, collecting about $4.5 million each in 2011 and 2012.

? Meridian School District bond. The request is for $17 million to replace and upgrade areas of Meridian High School and to renovate and expand Irene Reither Primary School.

In all, about 34,000 ballots will be sent out to the three school districts, with about half of those going to Ferndale-area voters, according to Whatcom County Auditor Shirley Forslof.

If put in the mail, ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, Feb. 9. People also can drop off their ballots at the Whatcom County Courthouse, 311 Grand Ave.

On election day, drop boxes will also be available at the Laurel Fire Station and the Ferndale and Lynden libraries.

COMING SOON

Articles explaning more about the levies and bonds, including costs and details about what they will be used for, will be published over the next few days in The Bellingham Herald and online at TheBellinghamHerald.com.