Washtenaw County residents voted down Proposal A, which would approve a millage to expand the county jail, by 63 to 37 percent, leaving county officials to rethink the proposal. Only 10 percent, 25,512, of the county’s 256,305 registered voters turning out for the election.

Although the measure failed in every municipality, it came close to passing in Ann Arbor.

The proposal was designed to solve the problem of jail overcrowding by bringing in $314 million over 20 years. This allocation of funds would pay for the expansion of the Washtenaw County jail, a program to remove mentally ill offenders from the jail system and would also allow for the renovation of district courts.

Due to the defeat of the proposal, Washtenaw county staff will look at alternatives to the proposal and will forced to make recommendations to the county Board of Commissioners by mid-summer.

Although the vote against the proposal was a decisive one, Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Township were the exceptions, defeating the proposal by only a 1-percent margin. Ann Arbor voted it down 3,697 to 3,574, and Ann Arbor Township voted the proposal down 292 to 286.

If the proposal had passed, most of the $314 million would have been used to cover additional costs incurred by expanding facilities and mental health services. The millage would have cost taxpayers 75 cents for every $1,000 paid in property taxes.