Baldwin County voters gave a financial shot in the arm to the struggling public school system Tuesday by approving a 1-cent sales and use tax referendum that will generate an estimated $75 million during the taxation’s three-year life.

In unofficial results, voters approved the measure by a 22,424 to 15,516 vote, or 59.1 percent, according to Baldwin County Probate Judge Adrian Johns.

That count does not include provisional ballots, which will be canvassed next Tuesday. There are 112,988 registered voters in Baldwin County

Tracy Roberts, president of the Baldwin County Board of Education, said approval of the tax measure and voter participation indicates county residents’ strong support of the school system.

“I could not be happier,” Roberts said. “Historically we’ve had very low turnout for special elections and I think it’s just a clear sign that people in Baldwin County care about education. It’s clear that they cared enough to get out and vote.

“This helps us maintain where we are right now and restore critical services that we’ve lost this year,” Roberts said. “And then we begin to just work as hard as we can with this additional revenue to maintain the integrity of the classrooms.”

Denise D’Olivera, executive director of Supporting Education and Enrichment in Daphne Schools, called the vote “a sweet victory,” and said school officials should continue to work with community leaders for common goals and to meet expectations.

“For the last 20 years people have been coming to Baldwin County because they heard that we care about education, and today we proved it,” D’Olivera said. “The turnout was historic and the outcome has been decisive.”

The Baldwin County Board of Education has earmarked the additional funding for maintaining an adequate level of staffing at the local school level, and restoring about 40 staff positions, including teachers, special education positions, nurses, bus drivers and lunch room workers.

The BOE also plans to maintain levels of extra-curricular supplements and associated art, band, music and athletic programs.

Voters also passed, by a 24,700 to 11,413 vote, a measure to shorten the revenue commission’s term of office by a few months in the next election cycle.

Some county residents have voiced concern over prudent management of financial resources. Some argue that the BOE did not take proper budgetary steps over the past two years to cope with dwindling local sales tax and property value decreases, as well as state proration.

For some county residents who approved the measure, the vote was a bittersweet gesture of support for maintaining educational and extracurricular activities, not an affirmation of agreement with the BOE’s budgetary history.

Sean Ahern of Daphne said he made the first of two votes Tuesday as he exited the Daphne Civic Center.

“I voted yes for the fix, and I am going to vote yes for getting the Baldwin County Board of Education out of office.”

The BOE passed the sales tax resolution July 23 and presented it to the Baldwin County Commission for consideration. The proposal prompted the formation of a panel comprised of legislators, school and county officials, who met numerous times to consider funding options.

The Commission agreed in December to put the issue on the ballot as a referendum.

“We have a lot to look forward to,” D’Olivera said Tuesday night. “But the real work begins tomorrow.

“We need to continue this conversation about what we want for our community and our schools and use what we learned from one another to set an agenda to push forward as a community.”

Baldwin Times editor Scott Latta contributed to this report.