WEST BRANCH Tax rate to drop in school district

The treasurer said the state needs to make changes in how school districts are funded.
By JoANN JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BELOIT -- Residents in the West Branch School District will see a slight reduction in their taxes next year.
Treasurer Karen Elsner, in her report to the school board at its Thursday meeting, said the increase in property valuation, particularly residential property in Columbiana County, will enable the district to reduce its tax rate by .15 mill for 2003.
"This won't be more than a few dollars," Elsner said, "but at least it's something."
Elsner explained that the district can remain stable because it has no single large employer or factory on which to rely for taxes. But she also emphasized the state still needs to make changes in the ways it funds school districts through local property taxes.
"One mill here may generate $178,000, but in another district, one mill could bring in $800,000, depending on property values," she said. "It's just not fair."
Superintendent Louis Ramunno explained that the Ohio Supreme Court's decision earlier this month that declared the system unconstitutional for the fourth time really doesn't tell school districts anything.
"I don't know if anything's going to change," Ramunno said.
The district's financial report for 2001-02 is on file in the treasurer's office for anyone to view, Elsner said.
Camp Fitch program
The board heard Len Slack, principal of Goshen Center Elementary School, present a program on Camp Fitch, where the district's sixth-graders go annually for outdoor education.
The 450-acre, Youngstown YMCA camp is in North Springfield, Pa., on the shores of Lake Erie. "Camp Fitch certainly has an educational value," Slack said. "It teaches the kids about the outdoors as well as teamwork, cooperation and communication." He added that no child stays home for economic reasons, and if the $75 cost cannot be paid by any pupil's parents, volunteer groups pick up the cost.
The board voted to renew its membership in the Ohio School Boards Association at a cost of $2,283 and accepted three donations totaling $629 from the Sebring-West Branch Community Foundation, Wal-Mart and the Damascus Ruritan Club.
The board also approved an expenditure of about $2,000 for Web design services from the Mahoning County Educational Service Center.
Elsner said the funds for designing the district's Web pages will come from the state's Tech Equity funds.
The board set its 2003 organizational meeting for 7 p.m. Jan. 6 at the high school.