The Tipp bond issue will pay to replace the district’s three elementary schools and one middle school with one new building for preschool to eighth grade. Even though Tipp will get some state funding for the project, the bond issue will cost a homeowner an additional $304 per year for each $100,000 of appraised property value.
Tipp City superintendent Aaron Moran said the passage of the levy was significant and exciting, but the district has a lot of work ahead to build the new schools. The district wants to involve the community in that process.
“For all the supporters, especially the bond levy committee- thank you,” he said. “Your work to provide students with adequate resources was excellent. To those who opposed the bond, I hope our actions moving forward will bring more people on board for our vision of supporting our students.”
Voters had rejected a Tipp City schools bond issue in 2019 by a 53-47 ratio.
Centerville
Centerville voters rejected the proposed 3.9-mill, $11.2 million tax levy meant to pay for school operating expenses by a ratio of 53-47, according to unofficial, final results.
The levy would have cost voters an additional $136.50 a year per $100,000 in property value. Last November, voters rejected another levy that would have increased taxes, that one by a 57-43 vote ratio.
Centerville Superintendent Jon Wesney said the district’s focus “will remain on our mission of empowering, challenging, and supporting our students and staff.”
“We spent a lot of time over the last few months sharing information with residents about how school funding works in Ohio and why our district has to return to taxpayers to ask for additional funding,” Wesney said. “Because of the way schools are funded in Ohio, districts like Centerville are reliant on local property taxes for the largest portion of our school funding.”
Centerville has already committed to $1.27 million in budget cuts. Recent community meetings have seen mixed comments on whether the district should get new tax funding or reallocate what it already gets. Ohio allocates lesser funds to wealthier districts like Centerville than to other districts with less money.
Franklin
Voters in the Franklin school district rejected the proposed five-year, 6.3-mill levy by a ratio of 68% no to 32% yes, with all 17 precincts reporting. The levy was meant for operating expenses.
The levy would have cost a homeowner an additional $220 in additional taxes per year on a $100,000 home.
Franklin has been deficit spending recently, and the district’s cash balance of about 10% of a year’s expenses is one of the lowest in the Dayton region.
Warren County Career Center
The Warren County Career Center, which was asking for new money to build a second campus and expand offerings, had 52% of voters vote no and 48% say yes Tuesday, according to unofficial, final results. Multiple career centers in Montgomery and Greene counties have recently expanded via a mix of state and taxpayer funding.
Because the Warren County project would have gotten state support and drawn tax funding from a much broader area if approved, the cost would have been $28 per year per $100,000 of property value. Voters rejected a similar measure in November by a narrow margin.
Greeneview
Greeneview schools voters rejected a proposed bond issue meant to build new schools by a 66-33 ratio according to unofficial, final results.
The project would have cost an estimated $33 million, with the state covering $11 million if voters had approved the local share. The current middle school would have been renovated and expanded and become the elementary school, while a new academic wing for grades 5-8 would have been added to the high school. And an athletic field house and outdoor practice fields would have been constructed. The cost to a resident would have been 3.99 mills, or $140 per $100,000 of property value, for 37 years.
Voters rejected a similar measure in November by 63% to 37%.
Milton-Union
Milton-Union’s request for an income tax increase, paired with a property tax decrease, was rejected by voters, by a 61-39 ratio with all 10 precincts reporting, according to the Miami County Board of Elections.
The ballot issue proposed a permanent, 1% earned income tax for school operations, but if passed, residents’ actual tax bump would have been 0.5% because the new levy was paired with a decrease in a separate facilities-focused levy.
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