Greenon board members are expected to vote tonight on the first step toward putting a combined bond issue and income tax on the November ballot.

If voters approve a local issue in the next year, the district will partner with the Ohio School Facilities Commission to fund the cost of two new buildings, one for prekindergarten through sixth grade and a second for seventh through 12th grade, said Superintendent Dan Bennett.

“When you start to look at it in terms of what our students and what our children need in terms of educational resources (and) educational offerings, that’s leading the way in all this,” he said.

New buildings will help the district offer additional programs like all-day kindergarten and blended online and traditional classes and reduce costs for transportation, utilities and maintenance, said Bennett.

Having two campuses would also allow the district more flexibility to use staff more efficiently and accommodate stagnant to slightly declining projected enrollment over the next two years.

The OSFC would fund 40 percent, of about $22.5 million, of the basic project, said Treasurer Ryan Jenkins. The district may opt for some locally-funded additions, like auditoriums, that would add to the cost.

The combined issue would raise the local portion of the project, about $42 to $43 million, said Jenkins.

“The earned income tax will also allow for some operational money,” he said. “We strongly feel that we need to ask for what we need when it comes to operations at the same time we are asking for building funds.”

Jenkins estimated a .75-percent tax rate for the earned income tax, which only covers actively earned income, not pensions investments or social security.

The resolution of necessity, the first required step toward a ballot issue, covers the maximum amount needed for the project and tells the county auditor how much the district needs to raise with the issue. The county auditor then certifies the millage amount for the property tax of the bond issue.

The board has to pass a second resolution, the resolution to proceed, to finalize the ballot issue.

The board will vote on the first resolution at its meeting at 7 p.m. today in the media center at Indian Valley Middle School.