Panel works on recovery plan

A 9.5-mill tax levy is still expected to be a major part of the recovery plan.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATON WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The chairman of the state fiscal oversight commission controlling city school district finances said the next two months will be a critical period in the district’s financial recovery efforts.

Roger Nehls said the financial planning and supervision commission will be working with school officials on the next year’s fiscal recovery plan, hoping to have it ready for approval in March.

The commission needs to see where the district has made progress in reducing spending over the past year as part of that process, he said at a commission meeting Thursday.

An important “tool” in that process will be a state performance audit now being done on the district, Nehls said. The commission got a preview of that report in a closed-door session Thursday. The audit is expected to be completed and released to the public in several weeks.

The state placed Youngstown under fiscal emergency in November 2006 and established the oversight commission to control district spending.

The district and commission put together the first year of a recovery plan in March 2007. Among other things, it called for borrowing $15 million from the state through a solvency loan to cover a general fund deficit, passage of a 9.5-mill property tax levy and a $9 million reduction in spending.

Part of the process of drafting a second-year plan is to look at how well the district has been able to implement the first-year plan, Nehls said.

The district did borrow the money from the state and has implemented staff and spending reductions, but the tax levy was rejected by voters.

The same size levy will likely be a focal point of the new recovery plan as well, as it will be back on the ballot again in March.

Nehls said additional revenue will be needed by Youngstown as it works its way through fiscal recovery. The district hasn’t had a new operating levy approved in 20 years, he said.

The proposed five-year levy would generate about $5.2 million annually in new revenue. If the levy fails, the deficit this fiscal year will be about $4 million.

Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent, recently outlined a plan of $4 million in proposed cuts for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2008. Some of those cuts are also expected to be part of the new recovery plan.

gwin@vindy.com