Trying to pass even higher levy concerns residents

District placed in 'fiscal watch' after November levy goes down.

Third-graders find their lockers and unpack school supplies on the first day of school at Little Miami Intermediate School. As of Saturday, Nov. 14, Little Miami was placed on ‘fiscal watch’ by the state.

File photo by Linda Weisenborn Third-graders find their lockers and unpack school supplies on the first day of school at Little Miami Intermediate School. As of Saturday, Nov. 14, Little Miami was placed on ‘fiscal watch’ by the state.

ENLARGE PHOTO

By Marie Rossiter, Staff Writer Updated 3:03 AM Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Cheri Bauer of Pleasant Plain has a daughter who is a junior at Little Miami High School. The looming consequences from the recent levy failure hits a little too close to home for her.

“My daughter is worried because she won’t have the classes she needs for a post-secondary education,” Bauer said. “”Colleges look at senior year for academics and athletics. She’ll have no AP or honors classes. Without these, her chances for a scholarship are done. What will happen then?”

Even though Bauer supports an operating levy for Little Miami schools to fill in a $6 million to $7 million projected deficit, she questions if the newly proposed five-year 16.95-mill levy to be voted on in February 2010 can pass.

“If a 7.95-mill levy won’t pass, what will happen with more than twice that?” Bauer said.

More than 650 people attended the Tuesday, Nov. 17, Little Miami Board of Education meeting searching for explanations about placing the higher levy on the February 2010 ballot just two weeks after a smaller levy failed.

On Nov. 3, voters rejected a 7.95-mill incremental levy by a vote of 52 percent to 47. That levy would have increased taxes $243 per year on a $100,000 home.

The new 16.95-mill levy would cost taxpayers an additional $516 in annual taxes on a $100,000 home.

The millage amount more than doubled since the Nov. 3 vote because the district can’t begin collecting tax money until 2011, said Treasurer Shaun Bevan.

“This is the lowest possible millage the district can pass to be made whole and maintain local control,” Bevan said. “Collection of a levy begins the year after the issue is passed. This means if the levy had passed in November, the district would have begun receiving funds in 2010. Even though the district is placing this issue before voters just three months later, Little Miami won’t begin to receive money from the levy until 2011. This means the millage had to increase to make up for the additional year of lost revenues.”

A financial “perfect storm” is the reason behind the district’s financial troubles, according to Bevan. The last two state budgets have cut district funding, totaling approximately $6.5 million. With the collapse in the housing market, the district also anticipates a significant decline in local tax dollars due to the 2009 triennial property value update, Bevan said.

“Our two largest sources of revenue — state aid and local property values — are being slashed at an alarming rate,” Bevan said. “The district spends $30 million in a 12-month period for basic operations. Without new revenue coming in, there is going to be a gap.

As of Saturday, Nov. 14, Little Miami was placed on ‘fiscal watch’ by the state, meaning there is not enough money to finish out the school year. Ohio Department of Education Office of School Funding and Fiscal Support Assistant Director Roger Hardin explained the state’s process intervening in the district’s finances. He said the state would not “take over” the district, but rather a commission steps in to help create a financial recovery plan. He also addressed questions about whether or not the state would give Little Miami money to bail them out of their current deficit problems: districts can use a solvency assistance fund to receive a two-year, interest free advance on its state foundation payments.

“There is no such thing as free money,” Hardin said. “The bottom line is fiscal issues are best handled at the local level rather than on a commission level,” Hardin said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4542 or mrossiter@coxohio.com.

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