Four districts seek May levies

Clark, Champaign schools ask voters to approve operating money.


• Clark-Shawnee Local Schools, which will ask voters to approve a 10-year 7.59-mill levy for operating expenses. If approved, the levy would cost $232.44 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home and raise $2.5 million a year for the district.

• Tecumseh Local Schools, which will ask voters to approve a five-year 12.37-mill levy for operating expenses. If approved, the levy would cost $378.83 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home and raise $3.5 million a year for the district.

• Urbana City Schools, which will ask voters to renew a five-year, 9.75-mill operating levy that would not increase taxes. If approved, the levy would continue to cost $298 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home and would raise $2.4 million for the district.

• West Liberty-Salem Local Schools, which will ask voters to renew a one-percent income tax for current expenses. The three-year income tax would cost $400 a year for every $40,000 of income.

The Springfield News-Sun provides in-depth coverage of school issues on the May 7 ballot, covering both sides of issues.

Four local school districts will ask voters to approve operating issues on the May 7 ballot, including two requesting a total of $6 million in new tax money.

In Clark County, Tecumseh and Clark-Shawnee schools both are seeking voter approval of new operating dollars in May. In Champaign County, Urbana and West Liberty-Salem schools are asking voters to renew existing taxes.

Early voting began April 2 for the May 7 election.

Tecumseh will ask voters to approve a 12.37-mill levy that would raise $3.5 million a year for the district. Voters have rejected requests for new money eight times since 2004.

If the five-year levy is approved, it would cost $378.83 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home.

Without the levy, Tecumseh faces a $1.6 million deficit in the 2013-14 school year and faces state takeover, said Superintendent Brad Martin.

“We need to keep our local control,” he said. “If we do not pass this levy, we’re going to be $1.6 million in debt and what’s going to end up happening is there’s a high possibility … that the state could come in and take us over and then they would have control over our district. Even though they would have control, we’re still going to have to pass a levy because that’s one of the requirements.”

The district has made budget cuts totaling about $7 million since 2004, said Martin.

“We need to keep our programs that we currently have,” which help students with life skills, various career paths, and can help children develop a life-long love of exercise, music or art, he said. “Any time you can be a well-rounded individual, it’s a positive in your life.”

Phillip Hermes, 77, of New Carlisle, said in an e-mail that he plans to vote against the levy because he believes the district should be more open about its spending.

“The school district should reduce costs by cutting salaries and positions, not by reducing busing, which only accounts for 5 percent of the budget,” said Hermes, a parent of four Tecumseh graduates. “The problem is that the school district is being run by the teachers union … So, the administration has set up this levy to punish the students and their parents.”

Clark-Shawnee

Clark-Shawnee is seeking a 10-year, 7.59-mill levy that would raise $2.5 million annually for the district’s operations.

“We’ve tried to handle this properly in these economic times, and we’ve made substantial cuts over the last two years in the amount of about $3,296,000,” said Superintendent Gregg Morris. “That involves nine teachers, one administrator, about four classified positions, closing the kindergarten village, reducing building budgets. And yet with all the state cuts, and they’ve been over $1,157,000, we are still in a situation of need financially.”

If approved, the levy would raise $2.5 million a year for the district. It would cost $232.44 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home.

Urbana

Urbana will ask voters to renew a five-year, 9.75-mill operating levy. It generates $2.4 million a year for the district.

The renewal would keep the district’s operating budget the same and does not raise taxes, said Treasurer Mandy Hildebrand.

“We’re in the process of making cuts of about $1 million,” she said. “Those are going to have to be made regardless of the outcome of this levy. We’d have to make an additional between $2.3 and $2.4 million of cuts if this were to fail.”

If approved, the levy would continue to cost $298 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home. Voters first approved this levy in 2008, said Hildebrand.

West Liberty-Salem

West Liberty-Salem’s tax issue is the renewal of a one-percent income tax that was first approved in 1992.

“It represents $1.12 million of our operating budget,” said Treasurer Steve Godwin. “It’s a big amount, a huge amount.”

That’s about 10 percent of the money the district spends on operations each year.

The three-year income tax costs $400 a year for every $40,000 of income. It was first approved in 1992, said Godwin.

About the Author