DATE: Tuesday, May 20, 1997                 TAG: 9705200317

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   63 lines

SCHOOL BOND VOTE TODAY TOO CLOSE TO CALL AFTER THE VOTE, HEALING A DIVIDED COUNTY MAY BE THE REAL CHALLENGE.

Voters go to the polls today to decide whether or not the Dare County Board of Education will get $59.5 million in bond money for school construction.

Polls open at 6:30 a.m. And if the number of absentee ballots cast is any indication, voter turnout will be higher than usual for a single-issue referendum.

So far, 268 absentee voters have made their choice on the controversial bond issue.

``That's high for a bond referendum,'' Dare County Elections Supervisor Lynda Midgett said Monday. ``We may have one more absentee ballot cast. There's a special provision for people who are ill, so we may get an additional ballot from a voter who was just released from Duke (University Medical Center in Durham).''

Groups for and against the bond, as well as one local newspaper, have conducted unscientific polls of the electorate. Those surveys show that more than one-third of those questioned were undecided or declined to respond when asked their stance on the package. That indicates the outcome is too close to call.

For example, in a poll of 1,111 voters conducted by bond supporters that focused on the northern beach communities of Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Colington, 462, or 41.6 percent, of those surveyed were either undecided or non-committal.

Both sides in the hotly contested race hope for a big turnout. And both are confident of victory.

``I think it's going to pass,'' Chuck Burton of Citizens for the School Bond said Monday. ``I'm not overconfident. But I believe that in the end people are going to do the right thing for kids in this county, and vote for the bond.''

Burton, like other supporters, contends that the bond issue is the best path to meeting future facilities needs.

Dr. Walter Holton, a member of the Citizens for Responsible School Planning, a group opposed to the bond, says the bond will be defeated. Bond critics say the package is poorly conceived.

``I hope we have a beautiful day and a huge turnout so that communities all over the county will be well-represented,'' Holton said. ``That way, no matter how this comes out, no one will have any excuses.''

A key segment of the electorate that could ultimately decide the outcome of today's referendum arevoters over the age of 55. Of 16,469 registered voters in Dare County, 5,622 were born in 1942 or before. A key issue for older voters is a projected 18-cent rise in the base rate of property taxes from 40 cents to 58 cents per $100 in assessed value.

For the owners of a $100,000 home, passage of the bond means a $180 increase in taxes.

The 1997 bond campaign is considered by many to be the most divisive race in the county's history. Evidence of the bitterness was seen throughout the county on Monday, as yellow and black supporters' signs and green and white opponents' placards were defaced with spray paint or ripped out of the ground.

While the bond issue will undergo the ultimate democratic test in today's balloting, people on both sides say the real challenge will come after the results are counted and the county heals its wounds.

A sign at Kelly's, a popular Nags Head restaurant, summed up the feelings of many in the county. The sign read: ``School Bond Vote on Tuesday, Kiss and Make Up on Wednesday.'' KEYWORDS: REFERENDUM ELECTION

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