14 school districts place levies on May ballot


DAYTON-AREA SCHOOL LEVIES ON MAY 7 BALLOT
School district Purpose Levy type Millage/% Duration Cost** $ raised per year
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Brookville current expenses renewal 3.99 mills 5 years $122 $702,219
Brookville current expenses additional 5.5 mills 5 years $168 $990,968
Centerville current expenses additional 6.9 mills continuing $211 $10.8 million
Huber Heights current expenses additional 9.95 mills continuing $305 $6.6 million
Jefferson Twp. PI* additional 1.07 mills continuing $52 $153,898
Jefferson Twp. PI*/bond additional 8.37 mills 37 years $256 $757,721
Kettering current expenses additional 5.9 mills 5 years $181 $7.1 million
Valley View current expenses additional 6.97 mills continuing $213 $1.4 million
Vandalia-Butler emergency additional 6.99 mills 5 years $214 $3.9 million
GREENE COUNTY
Fairborn emergency additional 11.7 mills 10 years $358 $7 million
MIAMI COUNTY
Covington PI*/bond additional 3.89 mills 30 years $119 $606,600
Covington capital projects income tax 0.25% continuing N/A No estimate
Milton-Union operating renewal 10.9 mills 5 years $290 $1.7 million
Piqua emergency renewal 5.22 mills 5 years $160 $2.1 million
Tecumseh emergency additional 12.37 mills 5 years not known $3.5 million
Tipp City emergency additional 4.93 mills 5 years $151 $1.9 million
WARREN COUNTY
Carlisle emergency additional 5.9 mills 5 years $181 $993,222

Our reporters are digging into the numbers to see how much state funding Miami Valley school districts stand to receive in the governor’s proposed 2014-15 budget. They will bring you a comprehensive report in Friday’s newspaper detailing how districts could be impacted under the new state funding formula.

Fourteen Dayton area school districts have placed tax issues on the May 7 ballot, including eight of the 11 that saw requests for new money defeated in November.

At least four of those returning school districts — Centerville, Fairborn, Huber Heights and Tecumseh — are seeking levies with higher millage than what voters rejected in the fall.

Kettering City and Brookville Local schools have new, additional levies on the ballot. These school districts filed their levy requests by Wednesday’s deadline at boards of elections in Montgomery, Greene, Miami and Warren counties.

Three districts absent from the primary election following November defeats are Beavercreek, Xenia and West Carrollton.

Beavercreek Board of Education President Al Nels has said the district expects to be on the ballot this year but board members agreed to skip the May primary because they didn’t know yet how much state funding the district would receive in fiscal years 2014 and 2015.

The governor’s office late Wednesday afternoon released spreadsheets detailing how much school districts stand to receive but some area school leaders said they had not had a chance to view or digest the information.

“We believe the governor’s plan will have an impact on our district’s financial situation and we need to understand the implications of those plans before we go back to voters,” Nels said earlier.

Eleven of 12 school districts that sought new money requests in November were defeated; only Yellow Springs Exempted Village Schools was successful. Four districts returning to the voters are facing the threat of state fiscal oversight — Fairborn, Huber Heights, Carlisle and Tecumseh.

The Fairborn City Schools’ board of education approved placing an 11.7-mill emergency levy on the ballot, four days before the state placed the Greene County school district in “fiscal caution” on Jan. 14. The district faces a projected $4.1 million deficit by June 30, 2014 and is in jeopardy of not making payroll this summer, Treasurer Eric Beavers has said.

District officials are required to submit a plan to the Ohio Department of Education by March 14 showing how they intend to generate revenue and reduce costs.

The new levy, which would generate $7 million annually for 10 years, comes after voters rejected a 7.4-mill emergency levy in the fall. Beavers said they had no choice but to go with the larger millage because the district lost a year of tax collections after the last levy was defeated.

Centerville City Schools — which saw its November levy fail by less than a percentage point — is back with a 6.9-mill operating levy after a 5.9-mill levy failure in November. The Centerville school board recently approved $2.6 million in cuts from its budget next school year, including programming changes and the reduction of 13 net positions, and increased revenue via student fees. The approved cuts follow cuts of 63 positions and $12 million during the last four years.

Huber Heights City Schools is back on the ballot with an additional 9.95-mill permanent operating levy following an 8-mill levy defeat in November. The school board in January approved a $6.4 million cost reduction plan that would eliminate 108 staff positions next school year if the levy fails but would spare athletics and extracurriculars by significantly increasing pay-to-play fees.

Huber Heights, the fifth-largest disrict in the Dayton area with more than 6,000 students, narrowly avoided state fiscal oversight because of a $2.7 million deficit by June 30, 2014. The budget cuts, combined with the levy, met the ODE’s request to turn in a plan by Dec. 31 to reduce costs and generate revenue.

Vandalia-Butler City Schools is seeking approval of a 6.99-mill emergency levy that would raise $3.9 million annually for the next five years. District officials made the decision to go with the five-year levy instead of a permanent one like the one rejected by voters in November.

Kettering City Schools is seeking an additional five-year, 5.9-mill levy to raise $7.1 million annually for current expenses.

Brookville Local Schools will have two levies on the ballot — an additional five-year, 5.5-mill levy to generate $990,968 per year and a five-year, 3.99-mill renewal that would continue to raise $702,219 annually.

Milton-Union Exempted Village Schools is asking voters to approve a 10.9-mill renewal levy to generate $1.7 million annually for operations for five years after a similar renewal failed by nine votes in November.

In the general election, Milton-Union, Centerville and Beavercreek school districts each had levy issues come down to automatic recounts, which are mandated by the state when a race is within 0.5 percent.

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