LORDSTOWN Schools oversight panel approves GM tax break

A five-year, 10.2-mill levy for the school district will be on the May 8 ballot.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- The state commission overseeing school district operations has approved a tax abatement agreement with General Motors, cautioning that additional revenue won't be immediate or dig the district out of its financial hole.
"We still have a cash-flow problem," said James Levero, commission chairman.
Even if GM approves a plan to renovate its Lordstown assembly plant and build its next generation of small cars there, additional revenue for the school district isn't expected for several years.
To ask for levy: The agreement doesn't eliminate the need for additional revenue in the short run, Levero said. Voters will be asked May 8 to approve a five-year, 10.2-mill levy to generate $1.3 million annually.
The agreement approved by the board of education last week and the oversight commission Tuesday calls for a 10-year abatement for GM for investments that would be made under a proposed $500 million renovation of the assembly plant.
The agreement gives the company a 75-percent abatement of the property taxes that would have gone to the school district. The village and Trumbull County are to give the company a 100 percent abatement under the plan.
The agreement is expected to go before Lordstown village council May 7 and if approved, will go to county commissioners.
The agreement also gives the school district half the tax money that would have gone to the village and county if a 75-percent abatement had been approved by all of the entities.
Under law: Under Ohio law, a corporation may receive an abatement of up to 75 percent without the affected school district's approval if the governmental entity and the county approve it. This agreement enables the district to receive about $1 million more over the life of the agreement than it would have if it had refused an abatement, because the school district will get the money that would have been paid to the village and county under a 75 percent abatement.
The agreement is contingent on the Lordstown plant being renovated. The plan, estimated at between $300 million and $500 million, calls for a new paint shop and the reconfiguration of most departments.
GM will present the abatement to company leadership as part of its business case to try to get a commitment to renovate the plant.
Additional revenue: Even with the renovation, the school district doesn't expect additional revenue until at least 2004 or 2005, said Mark A. Ferrara, district treasurer.
"In no way can this agreement fix the problem that we have," said Superintendent Raymond Getz.
The state auditor's office declared the district in fiscal emergency in December, citing a projected $1.35 million deficit by the end of the school year.
The agreement includes GM using the Gordon D. James Career Center as a training facility for its workers with new products and new technologies.