Plano voters overwhelmingly approve all changes to city charter

Only 3.4 percent of voters turned out.

A proposition to lengthen city council terms from three to four years, and decrease the number of terms a council member may serve from three to two, passed easily Tuesday night.

With the passage of Proposition 1, there will be no city council elections in May 2012. The next council elections will be in May 2013, with subsequent elections occuring only in odd-numbered years. City officials said the cancellation of the May 2012 elections would save the city an estimated $100,000.

Turnout for the election, which also featured 10 state constitutional amendments, was very low in Plano. Only 3.4 percent of the city's registered voters, or 4,809 people, cast ballots during the election.

With all 62 precincts reporting, 70.3 percent of the ballots cast were in favor of Proposition 1.

The other two propositions on the ballot also easily passed. Proposition 2, which will allow the city's municipal court to operate as a court of record, passed with 58.6 percent of the vote.

Proposition 3 will clean up redundant and obsolete language in the city charter. It passed with the greatest margin, with 80.3 percent of voters supporting it.