Tuesday, October 11, 2005
The superintendent said the income tax would be an easier sale to voters.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The school district's superintendent has recommended the board of education ask voters for a 1.25 percent wage-earner income tax in 2006.
The income tax would more than replace revenue from two levies that are set to expire at the end of this year. By the end of 2006, the revenue collected from those levies will be gone.
Together, those levies account for about 8.5 mills. The income tax would bring in the equivalent of 10.46 mills, said Superintendent Douglas Heuer.
Presentations
At a work session Monday, board members heard presentations from department heads about rising costs, from fuel for buses to staffing for an influx of kindergarten-age pupils.
They listened to Becky Morris, special education director, talk about the school district's mandate to provide free appropriate public education, and the serious ramifications if the district doesn't provide it, which can include legal action.
She talked about the No Child Left Behind state mandate, and how it allows choices for parents if a school district doesn't make adequate programming available. Parents could get a voucher to send their child to another school district, she said, "And eventually the state will step in and lay it out for you."
They heard the from their technology director Tom Ventresco, who described a balancing act of trying to keep the district's nine buildings' worth of technological infrastructure updated and in good repair, as 1,200 PC work stations for staff and pupils age.
Joe Nohra, athletics director, said he will not call athletics and the band extracurricular activities. To him, they are co-curricular and they aren't expendable. He said the district is falling behind when it comes to keeping up with its stadium, gyms and practice spaces.
He also talked about what it would cost to lose those activities. He explained that the Ohio High School Athletic Association has proposed to the state General Assembly that students be able to leave a school district over a dropped athletic program. "They can transfer and live in Austintown," he said. "If 250 students left, that's $1,250,000 in lost revenue," he said.
Transportation director Colleen Bagnoli said the district has to start replacing its aging bus fleet. She said an 18-year-old bus gets 5.50 miles to the gallon, while a 2-year-old bus gets 7.35 mpg. The oldest bus in the fleet is 24 years old.
And district Treasurer Barb Kliner wanted to talk about "some very nasty things that are coming up in our future concerning money." With the two 5-year levies about to expire, she said, the district needs to replace the money they generate, about $5.2 million, by either asking for a renewal of the levies, replacement levies that would raise taxes, or an income tax.
She said that the state has allowed a change in income tax levies that would allow for wage-earners only to be taxed.
Quotable
"No pensions would be taxed," she said. So senior citizens who have fought taxes in the past would have no reason to object.
Kliner said she also is concerned about the state's plan to cut personal income taxes and a tax for businesses. House Bill 66 phases out the tax on tangible personal property of businesses until it's gone in 2009.
"What will this do to the state's budget?" she said. "They'll make cuts. Some of our grants have already been reduced."
Heuer told the board that asking for two levy renewals is asking voters to pull the yes lever twice. "The odds are against us." He also said renewals won't generate enough revenue to cover growth.
"The income tax will generate enough revenue to replace the expired 8.5 mills in the short term," he said, and will meet the district's needs as it expands.
He said that allowing the property taxes to expire will bring tax relief to property owners and to those on a fixed income.
"It encourages, begs voters to vote 'yes' -- they're getting a tax reduction," he said.
The school board did not act on Heuer's recommendation, because no official action takes place at a work session. The next regular school board meeting is Oct. 17.