Iberia Parish voters Saturday overwhelming turned down a proposed pay raise for Iberia Parish Council members as nearly three out of four voters nixed the idea of pay hike.

The negative response from parish voters filtered to the rest of the Home Rule Charter amendments as none of the five proposed Saturday received the neccessary votes to pass.

Turnout, however, was low Saturday as the Iberia Parish Clerk of Court’s office said only 11 percent of registered voters cast ballots in this month’s election.

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Those who did let the feelings known were solidly against a pay raise that would jumped individual Parish Councilman salary from $7,200 a year to $13,140 a year.

The news was better for the Iberia Parish School District, because voters in Iberia Parish showed their continuing support for the public school system by approving both propositions put forward by the School Board during Saturday’s election.

“This means a tremendous upgrade in our technology offerings, in safety and security and some great modernization ef-forts throughout our parish schools,” said Dale Henderson, superintendent of Iberia Parish Schools.

The school board’s 2009 Capital Improvement Plan passed with 3,148 votes for Proposition No. 1 and 1,641 votes against. The proposal included the $60 million, 20-year bond funded by the renewal of the current 21.9 mill property tax.

Proposition No. 2, the renewal of the 6.23 property tax for the maintenance and operation of parish schools, also passed with 3,155 votes in favor and 1,647 against.

“We are very pleased with the vote, at about 65/35 in favor,” Henderson said. “We’re very appreciative of those who went out and voted. They were extremely important votes.”

Residents of both Iberia and Vermilion parishes approved the Twin Parish Port proposition Saturday, paving the way for the future development and revitalization of the port and the town of Delcambre.

Voters specifically approved a vote to fund the project with a 4-mill property tax, which will increase the port’s money from about $30,000 to $300,000 annually, making it eligible for state and federal money, as well as matching grants.

Combined votes from Iberia and Vermilion parish were 796 in favor of the tax, with 585 opposed.

Voters in Iberia Parish approved the tax by 410 votes, with 323 votes against the new tax, according to the Clerk of Court’s office. In Vermilion Parish there were 386 votes in favor of the new tax and 262 votes opposed, with turnout at an estimated 8 percent, said Clerk of Court Diane Meaux Broussard.