Levy would provide operating funds
Thursday, May 08, 2008
SPRINGBORO — The Board of Education is expected to make its latest tax levy intentions official on Tuesday, May 13.
Voters in the school district are to get a chance Aug. 5 to cast a ballot in a special election deciding the fate of a proposed levy for new operating money for the district.
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If approved, the levy would be phased in over three years, adding 3.99 mills to property tax bills in 2009; 4.99 mills in 2010; and 5.99 mills in 2011, 2012 and 2013, when it would expire.
For the owners of $200,000 homes, the phased-in levy would add $132 to property tax bills in 2009; $196 in 2010; and $262 in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
It would raise $5.48 million in each of the last three years.
Assuming the district grows and state funding stays flat, as the district projects, this would be the first of as many as six tax issues district voters could see in the next seven years.
Among the factors board members discussed last week before taking a preliminary step toward the August vote: How long to continue the tax?
In March, less than 40 percent of voters approved a proposed 5.99-mill issue that would have levied the property taxes as long as the board deemed appropriate.
Noting this, board members favored a short, definite term.
"People are already wary about going out too far," board member Ira Thomsen said in response to suggestions of seeking a levy spanning seven years or more.
The board, which already cut about $800,000 from this year's budget, approved literature last week outlining fee hikes, including pay-to-participate fees and cuts, including no busing for high school and day care kids, which would occur if the levy failed in August.
The August election will cost the district about $21,000, Superintendent David Baker told the board.
If voters approve the levy in August or November, the district plans next to seek an earnings tax — an income tax on wage earners only — or a permanent improvements tax to offset building needs.
"If we don't pass anything else, we'll need more money in three years," Baker said.
The 10.05-mill renewal approved in March, which provides $9.2 million a year in operating funds, expires in five years, the same year as the proposed phased-in levy to be on August ballots.
The district's projections could change if the housing market lull translates to fewer new students or the state comes up with more local school funding.
The board weighed these factors before deciding to propose the phased-in levy.
The final vote, asking the county election board to call a special August election to decide the fate of the latest levy proposal, is expected during the board's regular meeting Tuesday, beginning at 7 p.m. in the LGI room at Springboro High School.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com.
