TRUMBULL COUNTY Referee recommends land around Girard Lakes stay in Mathews district

The referee says because the land is vacant, there is little evidence to review.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- A referee has recommended the land around Girard Lakes remain in the Mathews School District, although the acreage is within Girard's city limits.
The issue of school district jurisdiction went before the Ohio Board of Education on May 13, but no decision was reached.
The state board voted 8-8 on the issue, with three members absent. J.C. Benton, board spokesman, said the state board will reconsider the issue when it meets again June 9 and 10.
The land -- about 350 acres that can be used for development -- has historically been in the Mathews district.
Girard bought the two lakes and the acreage around them in mid-1995 as a possible future water source. The city then annexed the land into the city.
In 1997, Girard School District applied to the Ohio Department of Education to transfer the area from Mathews, a rural district based in Vienna just north of Girard.
Girard Superintendent Marty Santillo says that because the land is owned by the city, it doesn't generate any property tax income for Girard schools.
Not necessarily a benefit
Even if there is residential development in the area, the schools won't necessarily benefit, Santillo said.
He said that under state funding regulations, increased property tax revenue can result in decreased state funding to districts.
"Sometimes it works against you," he said.
Mathews Superintendent Lee Seiple said the advantage is that, if developed, the land would increase the overall property value of the district, thus decreasing the amount individual property owners pay in property taxes.
Regardless of which district has jurisdiction, Seiple said, 80 percent to 85 percent in property taxes goes to the school district and the balance to Girard to fund safety services.
In recommending denial of Girard's petition, state board referee Kevin P. Byers pointed out there is very little hard evidence to review.
Nothing on land
Byers wrote that there are no pupils in the now undeveloped acreage, there are no school facilities on it, there are no real property valuations at issue, or tax dollars at risk.
The request to obtain territory "appears to be a pre-emptive strike" by the Girard district, Byers wrote, "to ensure that it controls the territory within the city limits so future development will be to the district's benefit" for increased tax dollars through pupil enrollment.
In making his recommendation, Byers pointed out that when houses are built around the lakes, the pupils living in them would be physically "within the bosom" of Mathews School District.
Mayor James J. Melfi took the position that land within the city boundaries should be part of the city school system.
Santillo said it would help future pupils to attend one school rather than dividing them between Mathews and Girard along an arbitrary line such as a street in a development.
yovich@vindy.com