Kettering school levy one step closer to November ballot

UPDATE @ 8:10 p.m.:

Kettering City Schools Treasurer Dan Schall estimated the proposed 5.99-mill levy would generate approximately $7.5 million annually.

This is pending the Montgomery County auditor’s certification of the current tax valuation of the school district.

>> Renderings of Fairmont’s planned $10M auditorium

The levy proposed for the November ballot would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $17.47 a month.

UPDATE @ 6:45 p.m.:

The Kettering Board of Education voted unanimously to place a 5.99-mill levy on the November ballot.

EARLIER REPORT

The Kettering school board will discuss tonight whether to put a new operating levy on the ballot in November.

MORE: Donated wind turbine to power UDRI research

Last November, voters in the Kettering school district overwhelmingly renewed a 4.89-mill property tax levy, which didn’t raise taxes but switched the property tax from being a 5-year levy to a continuing one, which generates nearly $4 million annually.

Passage of the levy helped fund salaries, operations and rising technology costs.

The levy costs the owner of a $100,000 home $149.76 annually. Kettering voters have supported repeated levies and bond issues in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013.

Tonight’s discussion will center around potential timing of the proposed levy, according to Kari Basson, community relation coordinator for the district.

MORE: IHOb? 5 hilarious reactions to restaurant chain’s name change

In 2016, district officials put together a a 10-year capital plan mailed to residents indicating several items that the school district needed to address, including kindergarten and preschool classroom space, plus major renovation of the Barnes building, high school auditorium and career tech areas. That’s in addition to smaller investments in textbooks and technology, roofing and paving, and athletic facilities.

District officials said in their mailing that if the 2017 levy was approved, it will “keep the Kettering City Schools off the ballot for new money until at least 2019.”

About the Author