School board considers emergency operating levy for November

Rising insurance costs hurt the bottom line, an official says.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- The city school board is pondering the first of two steps necessary to put an emergency operating levy on the November ballot.
The panel is scheduled to gather at 6 a.m. Monday in a special meeting to decide whether to ask the Columbiana County Auditor's Office to certify the millage necessary to raise a set amount of money, schools Treasurer Alice Gunning explained Friday.
The early-morning meeting is necessary to accommodate a school board member's schedule, Gunning said.
The millage and amount to be raised have yet to be determined. Board members are expected to discuss those matters Monday.
Should the board opt to seek a levy, it would need to pass the auditor's certification measure Monday and then a second measure before Aug. 21 authorizing a levy to be put on the November general election ballot, Gunning explained.
Levy discussions are under way because the district is facing an estimated $800,000 deficit next year.
If the district's financial situation is left unaddressed, the deficit could balloon into the millions of dollars within several years, Gunning said.
High expenditures
The district faces operating in the red because expenditures in recent years have outpaced revenues, said Gunning, who was hired this spring as district treasurer.
Expenditures are up largely because of the rising cost of employee health insurance, she said.
Another problem is that the district's revenue projections in the last few years have been overly optimistic, Gunning added.
It will take more than an emergency levy to keep the district from slipping into a deficit, Gunning said.
School officials must consider trimming expenditures, she said.