“Hopefully our residents feel we’ve done a good job,” he said. “We want to get the most bang for the buck. We watch everything we do, and we particularly look on how this affects the way we educate kids.”
The levy was certified by the Butler County Auditor’s office earlier this month and is designed to generate just less than $2.69 million in its first year. It will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $165 a year, the same amount taxpayers currently pay.
Lantz said the levy will not prompt any new spending initiatives and “is strictly to continue with the financial plan that we currently have.”
The district was able to delay asking for its current levy by three years, which Lantz said supports his statement the district is being good stewards of tax dollars it receives.
“We have the second-lowest cost-per-pupil in the county and we’re below the state average,” he said, adding that they continue to provide a first-rate education to students.
Because this is a substitute levy, which its creation was approved by the Ohio General Assembly in 2008, it is permitted to capture new growth, unlike traditional levies. Traditional levies can only collect up to predetermined amount where as a substitute levy can capture new growth.
“It’s a new tool in the tool boxes of schools,” said Julie Joyce-Smith, real estate manager with the Butler County Auditor’s Office. “It will pull in the certified amount they need, but … you can also collect on new construction.”
Edgewood Treasurer Randy Stiver said the substitute levy approved by voters in November 2010 was able to collect above its initial target because of the Rockies Express Pipeline that runs through the district, and generated new taxes. They were able to collect on Duke Energy’s electric-generating plant that had a 10-year tax abatement agreement expire a few years ago.
“Millage has dropped, and we’re collecting a little more money, which is working the way it’s supposed to work,” Stiver said.
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