Dr. Melody Smith learns of the levy passage as St. Joe Now's Rob Schmidt relays the numbers to her Tuesday night.

Story Updated: 8:08 p.m.

St. Joseph’s 63-cent school levy won voter approval Tuesday.

The St. Joseph School District levy passed 56 percent to 44 percent, according to unofficial final results from the Buchanan County Clerk’s Office. The levy led by four votes when absentee ballots were counted, trailed with 41 percent of precincts reporting and then pulled away as more and more ballots were counted.

The levy measure finished with 8,952 votes in favor and 7,047 in opposition. Only a simple majority was needed for passage.

Voter turnout was 34 percent, compared to 39 percent when a levy proposal failed in April.

Following the defeat in April, a community group calling itself “Our Children. Our Future. Our Decision” formed to get the funds restored to the school district. This time, the citizens group presented the levy with a five-year sunset clause, meaning it would expire without voter reauthorization by 2014.

The citizens group boasted a broad coalition of community supporters who said it was critical to St. Joseph’s future to restore the $5 million to $6 million that the district lost when the levy expired following April’s vote.

They pointed out that St. Joseph’s tax support for public education, at $3.09 per $100 of assessed valuation, had fallen to the lower third of all Missouri school districts after the levy renewal was rejected in April.

Critics, operating through the committee “Citizens Against Forever Tax,” raised concerns about the economy and doubts about the financial stewardship of the school district.

Supporters of the levy said the tax renewal would restore property taxes to the same level as last year. That would amount to $120 on a $100,000 home.