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Half of area’s school districts have issues on November ballot
Half of the schools districts in a four-county region of the Miami Valley will have tax issues on the November ballot, with most seeking new money, including Beavercreek, Northmont and Lebanon.
Twenty-one of 41 districts in Montgomery, Greene, Warren and Miami counties placed issues on the ballot by Wednesday’s deadline at county boards of elections, while another is questionable because of a late filing.
All but five of the school districts are seeking new money in the form of additional or replacement levies, an income tax or bond issue.
Rob Delane, deputy executive director of the Ohio School Boards Association, said it’s shaping up to be a busy ballot for school districts around the state.
“The cut in state funding has had a major impact on school districts,” Delane said. Delane added that many have been making budget cuts, but are going to the voters for additional revenue and asking them to “dig deeper.”
Statewide and locally, seeking new money hasn’t been a winning formula for many school districts this year. OSBA statistics show voters approved 36 of 114 new money requests in the February, May and August elections, for a 32 percent passage rate. By comparison, 93 percent of the 67 renewal levies statewide passed.
Mad River Local Schools will be back on the ballot with a 5.9-mill additional levy for current expenses after voters rejected a request just last week. It was the first area district to have a levy come before voters since Gov. John Kasich’s budget cut $780 million in operating funds in the next two years for schools. Other districts returning since defeats in May include Beavercreek, Huber Heights, Lebanon and Trotwood-Madison.
In May, Beavercreek’s 9.9-mill emergency operating levy measure was soundly defeated, 67 percent to 33 percent. This time, Beavercreek will put a 6.7-mill emergency operating levy before the voters. If passed, it would cost an additional $205.20 per year for each $100,000 of appraised home value. Beavercreek Superintendent Nick Verhoff said being a wealthy district, Beavercreek will lose 28 percent of its state funding by 2013.
“If we don’t pass this levy in November, we lose an entire year of collection, which would really put the district in an even more difficult financial situation,” Verhoff said.
Northmont is seeking a 5.9-mill bond issue and permanent improvement levy. Northmont school board President Linda Blum said voters will cast “one vote” on the issue, which includes a 4.2-mill bond issue for 38 years that would generate $55 million to build a new high school and an early childhood learning center for all district kindergartners and first-graders. The remaining 1.7 mills would generate $1.1 million annually for permanent improvements, she said.
The Ohio School Facilities Commission would cover 47 percent of the project cost. “If this issue passes and we move forward, it will allow us to take advantage of $34 million from the state,” Blum said. “Even though we understand these are tough economic times, this is an investment in our community, our children and their future.”
Miami Valley CTC misses deadline
A filing deadline missed by minutes at the Montgomery County Board of Elections on Wednesday could keep a replacement levy for the Miami Valley Career Technology Center off the November ballot.
“We’ve been gearing up for this for almost two years,” Superintendent John Boggess said after learning of the problem.
Debbie Gossett, the school district treasurer, called the election board about 3:45 p.m. and asked if she could file paperwork electronically to place the 2.18-mill property tax on the ballot. Betty Smith, the county’s deputy elections director, said she called the Ohio Secretary of State and was told filing documents must contain original signatures and could not be submitted electronically.
Just after the 4 p.m. deadline, Smith locked the office door. Gossett arrived about seven minutes later. Smith again called the Secretary of State’s office asking for direction on whether it was legal to accept the filing documents.
“The Secretary of State’s office told us there was a court case in Franklin County that permitted a school district to go on the ballot when they filed late,” Smith said.
The next step will be for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office to determine if that case law is binding in Montgomery County. Smith said she would contact the prosecutor’s office today to request a decision.
Boggess said Gossett believed all the necessary paperwork had been filed earlier with the county treasurer and auditor’s offices.
“She feels terrible about this,” Boggess said.
State funding to career centers has been flat for four years, he said. The MVCTC has cut 31 positions to balance its budget, and the levy was “our light at the end of the tunnel.”
“The district desperately needs to get the issue on the ballot. We just hope the prosecutor will consider the circumstances,” Boggess said.
The 10-year levy would impact property owners in Darke, Champaign, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, Shelby and Warren counties.
A candidate gets help from an opponent
Malcom A. Keith, candidate for the Dayton Public school board, arrived just before the filing deadline, unaware of the $30 filing fee. Though they may be opponents in the November race, fellow candidate the Rev. William B. Schooler loaned Keith the cash. Schooler, pastor of St. Peter’s Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, was appointed to the school board in January to fill the unexpired term of Jeffrey J. Mims Jr., who was elected to the state Board of Education. Other Dayton Public school board candidates who are seeking three seats include incumbents Nancy Nerny and Sheila Taylor and challengers Robert C. Walker and Kevin E. Scroggins. Municipal races are also heating up around the region. In West Carrollton, Mayor Jeff Sanner’s re-election is likely to be contested by Harold Robinson, a councilman with two years left in his term.
“We’re best friends, actually. We just both want to be mayor,” Robinson, who is also a former school board member, said earlier this summer.
While having certified Sanner’s petitions, the election board has yet to certify Robinson’s, setting the stage for his second run for mayor. He lost to Maxine Gilman in 2003. Four candidates have already been certified in the race for two Dayton City Commission seats. Incumbents Dean Lovelace and Matt Joseph will square off against challengers Mark Manovich and William Pace.
In Miami County, six candidates filed petitions for three seats on the Tipp City Council. Filing were incumbents Dolores “Dee” Gillis, John Kessler and George Lovett, along with Michael McFarland, Michael McDermott and Paul Lee. Among expected campaign issues are city finances and whether council members should be eligible for the city health insurance program. Candidates in most Montgomery County municipalities who have collected enough valid signatures will be certified to the ballot by the election board on Aug. 23. Candidates in Kettering, Moraine and Riverside have until Aug. 25 to file their petitions, according to city charters rules. Those candidates will be certified to the ballot around Aug. 30.
In Greene County, candidates will be certified to the ballot on Aug. 16, with the exception of Fairborn, which will take place after Sept. 9.
Warren County candidates will learn if they collected sufficient signatures on Aug. 15, with the exception of Franklin, Waynesville and Mason. Candidates for office in those communities have a petition filing deadline of Aug. 25 and will be certified shortly thereafter. The Miami County Board of Elections will meet on Aug. 18 to certify candidates to the ballot.
Staff writers Joanne Huist Smith, Mark Gokavi, Lawrence Budd and Nancy Bowman contributed to this report.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Election 2011
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By Not Now Northmont
August 17, 2011 7:03 PM | Link to this
I can’t support the Northmont levy at this time. It’s amazing to me to see families strugle just to make ends meet and to feed their families - then we see a school district ask for more money to put air conditioning into the elementary schools. Let’s see - feeding my family or paying for airconditioning? Paying for a new school to keep up with the ‘Jones’ or paying for quality teachers? I guess the administrators at Northmont are in touch with us common folk.
By nchuckles
August 11, 2011 2:07 PM | Link to this
stop the madness. vote NO!!!