By David Glasier, The News-Herald

Lake County voters approved the issue by a count of 30,259 to 15,613, according to unofficial final returns from the county Elections Board. Issue 2 locks in the .25 percent set aside from the Lake County sales tax that generates 60 percent to 65 percent of the public transit authority’s annual operating budget.

Laketran’s budget in 2013 is $12,959,650.

Previously, Laketran had to seek approval of the set aside every 10 years. The issue that passed Tuesday is a continuing, or permanent, levy.

“The community listened to our message about how the funding enabled us to provide an essential service to our riders,” Laketran General Manager Raymond Jurkowski said Tuesday as Issue 2 supporters celebrated at Stadium Grill in Mentor.

Jurkowski said that while he was confident Issue 2 would be approved, he did not take the outcome for granted.

“With any election, you don’t speculate, you work hard,” Jurkowski said.

“Our board of trustees did its due diligence,” Jurkowski added. “With the population of Lake County aging, more and more people will be dependent on Laketran’s services in years to come. Passage of Issue 2 gives us stability.”

Kevin Malacek, president of the Laketran Board of Trustees, said he made appearances at “dozens” of public meetings over the past two months to generate support for Issue 2.

Laketran in 2012 handled 781,700 riders. On the average weekday, Laketran has 3,000 riders.