PUBLIC SCHOOLS Emergency, 5-year levy to go to voters in Feb.

The president questioned why the board was in a hurry to vote.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- City voters will get a chance in February to help decide the fate of Niles city schools.
Board members voted 4-1 at a special meeting Wednesday to place an emergency, five-year levy on the special-election ballot in an effort to generate $1.3 million each of those years to fund school operations.
The resolution will be sent to the county auditor's office to certify what millage will be required to generate that amount, officials said.
Board President John H. Davis cast the sole dissenting vote, citing timing issues as his major concern.
"What's the hurry?" Davis asked Superintendent Rocco D. Adduci. "And why the emergency levy?"
Davis said board members had only discussed at the last regular meeting two weeks ago placing a levy on the ballot.
The deadline for such issues to be submitted to the Trumbull County Board of Elections is Nov. 20. He said his question is why board members couldn't wait a few more weeks before voting on the resolution.
Davis also questioned why the board should consider an emergency levy, as opposed to an operating levy, which would be used for the same purposes.
Explanation
Adduci said school leaders -- including Davis and other board members -- had received letters from the Ohio Department of Education setting an Oct. 31 deadline for Niles city schools to submit a financial recovery plan showing how the schools will avoid the anticipated deficit at the end of this school year.
Currently, the schools are facing a debt of more than $999,000 by the end of the 2004-05 school year, a $1.16 million deficit at the end of 2005-06, $1.65 million debt at the end of 2006-07, $2.38 million deficit by the end of 2007-08 and $8.74 at the end of 2007-08.
By passing the resolution, Adduci said, the district could include anticipation of the levy's passage in recovery plans sent to the state.
Adduci also said an emergency levy is better suited to the current financial situation since the amount generated each year would be $1.3 million. Funding collected on taxes from an operating levy could fluctuate up or down from that amount depending on what property valuations in the city are each year.
Treasurer Linda C. Molinaro also noted that even if the levy does pass in February, the district will not begin collecting the tax money until 2006.
But, she added, the district would be able to borrow against anticipated tax collections to avoid being placed in state-imposed fiscal emergency status at the end of this school year.
slshaulis@vindy.com