Voters in Mahoning Co. snub school tax issues

The only countywide tax issue on the ballot was approved.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
Austintown school officials say they're preparing to cut their budget this year in an effort to avoid a deficit.
They had hoped to address their budget problems using $3 million in annual revenue from a five-year 5.9-mill levy that was on Tuesday's ballot. But voters gave a resounding no to the levy by about 2,800 votes.
Superintendent Stan Watson said the district may avoid a deficit by making more cuts, but he stressed that "it's going to be close." He said the school board has not discussed what will be cut.
The board cut about $1.5 million from its budget last year to avoid a deficit. Treasurer Barbara Kliner has said that without additional revenue, the district could have a deficit of at least $3 million at the end of this year.
Good news
School officials did have some good news on election night. Unofficial vote totals show that a 2.9-mill school bond issue to build a new junior high school was approved by a mere 52 votes. A recount will determine the final outcome.
State law requires election officials to hold a recount because the margin was less than one-half of one percent of the votes cast. The recount should occur later this month.
The bond issue would allow the district to borrow $26 million to build a junior high school for pupils in grades six through eight. The new school would replace Austintown Middle School, which was built in 1916.
Watson said district officials will wait until the recount is held to start working on plans for the school.
"We've got a lot of ideas about what we want to do," he said. "The faster we can get kids out of that school, the better."
Others rejected
Mahoning County voters rejected three other new school tax issues. Issues failed in the Western Reserve and Jackson-Milton school districts, as well as in Sebring.
Only one school issue passed, a renewal of a 2.3-mill 5-year levy in Boardman.
The lone countywide tax issue on Tuesday's ballot was approved. A replacement of an 0.85-mill five-year levy for the Mahoning County Mental Health Board garnered about 57 percent of the vote.
Tax issues for government expenses and such services as fire protection also passed in Boardman, Goshen and Springfield townships, and well as in Campbell and Beloit. Tax issues failed in Austintown, Smith and Milton townships.
Voters in Youngstown, meanwhile, approved each of the six amendments to the city's charter by at least a 10- percent margin.
hill@vindy.com