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Local school districts consider levies for ballot

Clark-Shawnee, Urbana, Tecumseh mull plans.

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By Bethany Bruner, Staff Writer 9:12 PM Monday, January 16, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — Some local school districts are determining whether to ask voters to approve levies in upcoming elections.

Other districts are happy that recent passages of levies will keep them from having to go back to voters soon.

Clark-Shawnee, Tecumseh and Urbana districts, for example, all could seek voter approval of tax issues this year.

Most other area districts don’t expect to be on the ballot in 2012.

Clark-Shawnee Local Schools Superintendent Gregg Morris said the district will have three renewal levies in 2012 and 2013 — two for operating funds and the other for maintenance and purchases.

Morris said the district would still face a nearly $2 million budget shortfall with the passage of the renewal levies.

At a recent town hall-style meeting, Morris sought feedback on two levy plans for new levies that could be on the ballot in August, November or spring 2013.

“We want to get community input before we make any sort of determinations about when the issues will be on the ballot,” Morris said.

Both options call for bundling the renewal levies together into a 7.5-mill renewal levy that could be voted on during a special election in August or during the general election in November.

The August proposal would cost around $12,000 for the special election and would be followed by a new 7.6-mill levy to voters in November. The 7.6-mill levy would cost $232 annually on a $100,000 home.

If the renewal levies go to voters in November, a new 9.3-mill levy would likely be brought to voters in spring 2013. The 9.3-mill levy would cost $284 annually on a $100,000 home.

Morris said a decision about the levies could be made in the next month.

Other districts in the area are also looking at potential levies.

Jim Gay, the superintendent at Tecumseh Local Schools, said the district will have a need for a levy “sometime soon.”

“It’s the board’s decision, but it will likely be sometime in the calendar year 2012,” Gay said.

Tecumseh’s Board of Education might know by March if a levy will be on the August or November ballot, and the district does not have any levies up for renewal until 2015, Gay said.

Lou Kramer, Northeastern Local Schools superintendent, said the district will not have any renewal levies because of the district’s use of permanent levies.

Kramer said new levies aren’t out of the question, but will be dependent on the board of education’s decisions and future state funding.

“That is a discussion that we’re going to need to have, but we haven’t had those discussions yet,” Kramer said.

Urbana City Schools will also discuss long-range plans in the near future, Superintendent Charles Thiel said.

The district has a 9.75-mill property tax renewal levy for operating costs that needs to be renewed by November 2013 or it will expire, Thiel said. The first opportunity to renew that levy will be the November 2012 election.

Thiel said the board of education will be having a work session in late January or early February to discuss the long-range financial situation for the district.

“We’re in a cycle right now where we have four time-limited renewals, one in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, and we’ll need to look at the five-year forecast,” Thiel said.

Thiel said he expects an issue of some kind to be on the ballot by November 2012.

Other local school districts will not need levies on the ballot for a few years.

Greenon, Springfield City Schools, Graham, Northwestern and Southeastern said they will not have new or renewal levies on the ballot in 2012.

Greenon Local Schools superintendent Dan Bennett said that for right now, no levies are being discussed because the district recently passed a five-year emergency levy.

Kim Fish, communications consultant for Springfield City Schools, said the renewal of levies in the last two years put the district in a positive direction.

“We are in good shape for operating money for the next two or three years,” Fish said. “Things would have to change dramatically before we have to go back to the voters.”

Norm Glismann, superintendent of Graham Local Schools, said the district’s next levy will be a “tiny” renewal levy in May 2014.

Southeastern Local Schools won’t have anything on the ballot for a while, Superintendent David Shea said. The district passed a general emergency levy in May 2011.

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