Ten years ago Linn County voters added two people to the Board of Supervisors, going from 3 members to 5. On Tuesday, they voted to go back to just 3 members.

In July 2007, Linn County voters also approved changing board representation from at-large to supervisors by district. Each supervisor must live in his or her district and is elected by residents of the district. Residents who led a petition drive on both votes said the goal was to gain more representation of rural residents in the county. Cedar Rapids has 3 districts, 2 others serve rural areas.

Another petition drive led to this year’s referendum. Organizers said the issue this time was money. They said there was not enough work for 5 full-timer supervisors, each making more than $100,000 a year. But opponents said going back to just 3 supervisors could eliminate the two non-Cedar Rapids districts and undo the efforts made a decade ago.

With more than 50 percent of voters choosing a three-member board, all five supervisors will see terms expire at the end of 2018.

With county districts currently mapped out for a five-supervisor board, redistricting would need to take place to split the county into three districts.

In addition to deciding the size of the county board, voters made selections for three supervisor seats.

Democrat Stacey Walker defeated Republican Adam Jensen for District 2; incumbent Democrat Ben Rogers beat Republican Tim Gull in District 3; and incumbent Democrat Brent Oleson beat Republican Randy Ray in District 4.