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E-mail Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > August > 21 > Entry
Jefferson hanging on by a thread
A last minute change of heart by the state oversight commission now in charge of Jefferson Twp. schools may have saved the district from oblivion Thursday.
The committee backed off its original plan to strip two levies from the Nov. 4 ballot — one for school construction and one for operating money. Commission members said they hadn’t had enough time to decide on a strategy for addressing the district’s financial woes and wanted to put off a decision to seek any levy until they were sure the levies were for the right amount. Thursday was the deadline to place a levy on the November ballot.
But after discussion, they decided to keep the 5-mill operating levy on the ballot and drop just the school construction levy.
With the state auditor suggesting Jefferson consolidate with a nearby school district, pulling both issues off the ballot might have been fatal. Jefferson has a $1.8 million deficit and had to take a $1.5 million loan to meet its payroll. The 5-mill levy will raise $420,000, which will help but not cure the deficit. Big cuts are coming next.
If the operating levy passes, Jefferson can begin collecting Jan. 1. Removing it from the November ballot would have meant the earliest Jefferson could have gotten new money was 2010. Unless the levy passes in November, the momentum for consolidation may be unstoppable.
Whether or not Jefferson should survive as an independent district is going to be a big question. If the decision is to keep the district as is, it will need a new, single-campus K-12 building for efficiency. This fall is probably the best time to seek any school levy in Jefferson Twp., as the hot presidential race should bring a big voter turnout. Bigger turnout usually helps school levies.
Here’s the story on today’s first meeting of the oversight commission:
A state oversight commission for Jefferson schools stripped a levy for school construction off the Nov. 4 ballot, saying they do not have enough information to evaluate the fiscal sense of seeking funds for a new K-12 school.
In the commission’s first meeting Thursday it nearly also pulled off an 5-mill operating levy but after a long discussion decided to leave it on the ballot. If it passes, it would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $82.69 a year and raise $420,000 annual for the district.
Commission members said they were not sure the levy was big enough. Paul Marshall, a commission member appointed by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, said the district’s financial condition is murky but its deficit for this school year is currently estimated at about $1.8 million, or about 23 percent of last year’s revenue, which is worse than previously thought.
To combat the deficit, the commission authorized a loan from the state of $1.5 million, without which Marshall said Jefferson could not have made payroll through the end of September.
“Without this money, the district could not have opened its doors,” he said.
The state moved to take over the fiscal operations of Jefferson schools earlier this month, saying the district had repeatedly failed to implement improvement recommended by the state auditor or to submit an acceptable recovery plan.
A five-member commission with veto power over all school board decisions includes:
—Willa Bronston, a 35-year township resident who’s son graduated from the district.
—Kim Potter, owner of New Visions Interior Plantscaping and a 20-year resident with a son attending Jefferson High School and a son who graduated in 2007.
—Emmitt Orr, a 33-year resident who works at Wright State University.
—Marshall, a financial planning administrator for OBM.
—Mike Watson, of the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of School Options and Finance.
Jefferson school board President Robin Mobley said she spent much of Thursday trying to persuade the oversight board members to keep the levies on the ballot out of fear that putting off levies until 2009 could lead the commission toward recommending Jefferson consolidate with neighboring districts.
“I believe in what we’re doing and I believe we are going to be here,” she said.
The commission will meet next on Sept. 22 to begin crafting a recovery plan that will seek to dramatically reduce spending and raise new revenue to bring the budget back in balance and pay back the upcoming state loan.
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