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School districts seeking levies on Nov. 6
Sunday, October 28, 2007
More than 10 communities in the Dayton region will have school levies on the Nov. 6 ballot. Some districts, including Kettering, Huber Heights and Brookville are trying again after defeats in May.
Beavercreek Schools
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Beavercreek City Schools board members are asking voters to pass a $89.3 million bond request to build and renovate schools in the rapidly growing district.
The district added 1,000 students in the past five years and expects another 800, but possibly as many as 2,500 in the next decade. The 28-year measure will cost voters $112 for every $100,000 of property valuation.
Bethel Schools
Bethel Schools in southeastern Miami County will have two renewal levies on the ballot — a 7-mill levy for current expenses and a 2-mill levy for construction.
Brookville Schools
The Brookville School District has two levy requests as its most recent operating levy runs out, following a year of cuts in its three schools.
The district seeks a 5-mill renewal of an operating levy that expires this year, as well as an additional 4.9-mill operating levy. The renewal maintains the $477,000 a year Brookville currently receives from its operating levy, and the additional levy will provide $873,000 more per year.
In May, voters rejected a 10.5-mill levy which combined a renewal request with an additional levy into one.
The school board decided to split that for this November to ensure that at a minimum, the renewal levy passed "while the additional levy is very important for replacing cut services, if the renewal fails we stand to lose that $477,000," said Superintendent Tim Hopkins.
Covington Schools
Covington Schools in northern Miami County is seeking a 3-year, 2.5-mill capital improvement levy. The owner of a $100,000 home would pay an additional $76.56 a year.
Greene Co. Vocational School
Greene County voters will decide if they want to renew a 0.75-mill permanent improvement levy that voters twice rejected by slim margins.
The $10 million the levy will generate during the next five years will be used to renovate a 40-year-old school building in Xenia Twp., and upgrade computers and other technology at the school.
Superintendent Marsha Leonard is quick to point out the levy, which costs $22.98 annually for every $100,000 of property value, is a renewal and will not raise taxes.
Huber Heights Schools
Officials of the Huber Heights City School district say their ability to make essential building improvements and purchases hinges on Issue 12, a continuous 1.5-mill replacement levy.
The levy will replace one that is currently valued at 1.25 mills. It will amount to a $7.55 increase on an owner-occupied property that is valued at $100,000, but it will generate approximately $138,000 in additional revenue for the district.
"The funding that is coming from this permanent improvement levy, which has been in place since 1993, will run out by December 2007," said Superintendent William Kirby. "Starting in January 2008, we will not have money for the purchases of such things as buses."
As a result of the levy's failure in May, the district did not move forward with plans to resurface playgrounds and improve student drop-off areas.
Jefferson Twp. Schools
School Superintendent Norris Brown says the 6.5-mills operating levy, if approved, would generate $557,378 in new money for the district.
The money will go toward operating expenses, such as salaries, textbooks, computers and transportation.
Brown said the levy would cost voters who own $100,000 home around $16 a month.
The district has cut expenses in recent years, including eliminating 19 staff positions in 2003; closing Radcliff School in 2004; reducing the athletic budget by $50,000 in 2004-05; and eliminating three teaching positions at Blairwood Elementary between 2005 and 2007.
Kettering Schools
If parents turn out to vote in Kettering, Superintendent Bob Mengerink believes the district's 4.9-mill school levy will certainly pass.
In May, an identical 4.9-mill levy lost by about 300 votes.
The district has made $4.2 million in cuts in recent years, mostly through attrition by not replacing employees who retired or resigned. The levy would raise $6.7 million in new money and cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $150 a year in new taxes.
New Lebanon Schools
Voters in the district will see two renewal levies on the ballot. One of the levies is a 2.8-mill renewal for permanent improvements for 5 years. The other is a 7-mill, 5-year operating renewal.
Newton Schools
Newton schools in southwest Miami County is asking for a $6.4 million bond issue to build a new K-12 school and a continuous 2-mills for capital improvements. The district wants to take advantage of a state program that would fund 63 percent of the more than $17 million project. The bond issue would require 7.46-mills over 28 years.
The owner of $100,000 home would pay an additional $228.46 annually for the bond issue and an additional $61.25 for the capital levy.
Oakwood Schools
In the past 26 years, Oakwood voters have passed 17 of 18 tax levies. In November, the schools will be seeking a 6.5-mill levy that would raise $2 million a year and cost the owner of a $200,000 home $398 a year in new taxes.
Even with the long, successful track record, Superintendent Mary Jo Scalzo said she is taking nothing for granted.
Oakwood schools are well-known for being No. 1 when it comes to test scores in the Dayton region.
Over the past 13 years, Oakwood's enrollment has jumped by about 675 students — 45 percent — to about 2,175 today. But, unlike other growing districts, hardly any homes were built in the city.
More families are moving in, Scalzo said, and the increased demand for Oakwood schools coincide with state report cards in Ohio spreading the word about the district's success.
A levy defeat would probably cause cutbacks, she said, but school leaders don't want to think about those possibilities yet.
"We want to be positive," she said. "We don't have a doomsday scenario."
Piqua Schools
After a 2 percent earned income tax, which would have raised $7 million annually, was defeated in May, the Piqua school board is now asking for an additional 0.75 percent traditional income tax, which would raise $3 million a year.
The district faces a projected $811,767 deficit this school year — this after cutting $737,488 from the budget. Next year's deficit is pegged at $2.6 million, and that after another $250,000 in cuts.
Added to the district's current 0.5 percent income tax, taxpayers would be paying 1.25 percent of their taxable income.
If the income tax levy fails, the school board will have find an additional $2.6 million to cut in the 2008-09 school year.
"Beginning on Nov. 7, we will have to start coming up with ways of how we will balance our budget," Superintendent Rick Hanes said.
Vandalia-Butler Schools
Residents of Vandalia and Butler Twp. will be asked to vote on Issue 18, a five-year renewal levy for 6.67 mills.
The renewal levy accounts for 14 percent of the district's general operating budget and generates $4,447,000 per year for such operating costs as teacher salaries, technology, text books, transportation needs and student programs.
"That number, $4,447,000, is the equivalent of 90 teachers. Failure would have the same crushing effect here as Dayton's levy did," Superintendent Christy Donnelly said.
If the levy does not pass, the district estimates it will have a $3.2 million deficit by 2010, which will grow to more than $15 million in 2011.
The district will also likely adopt a pay-to-play policy for extracurricular activities. Currently there is no fee to participate in sports.
Staff writers Stephanie Gottschlich, Doug Page, Chis Magan, Scott Elliott, Contributng writers Bethany Meisinger-Reiff and Helen Bebbington contributed to this report.
