Youngstown school levy fails; officials vow they’ll try again

A proposed WRTA sales tax would have restored public transportation cuts.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The third time wasn’t the charm for the Youngstown City School District.

The third attempt to get voters to approve a new 9.5-mill, five-year emergency tax levy failed Tuesday, but it won’t be the last try.

“We’ll be back in the fall,” said Shelley Murray, school board president.

Murray pointed out that the state fiscal oversight commission, controlling district finances since the state placed Youngstown in fiscal emergency in November 2006, has said repeatedly that the district needs more revenue and cannot cut its way back to solvency.

The district ran a $15 million budget deficit last year.

Murray said she left the school board offices Tuesday night thinking the levy had passed, only to hear a short time later that it was defeated by a margin of about 1,100 votes.

“We closed the gap some more,” she said, noting the levy failed last November by about 1,800 votes.

“The message is getting across,” she said, noting those advocating passage of the levy definitely felt more positive reaction from the community this time.

Scott Schulick, chairman of the levy committee, said he will “absolutely” stay involved in the campaign to get the levy passed.

“We’ve just got to continue working on the message,” he said.

The school board has cut spending by about $19 million over the past two years and has announced plans to trim an additional $7 million in sending in the next school year beginning in July.

A Western Reserve Transit Authority bid for a 0.25 percent sales tax to restore programs it has been forced to cut due to budget constraints also failed.

Jim Ferraro, WRTA executive director, said it looked at one point as though the levy would pass but late returns from Boardman and Poland turned the tide.

“We did pretty good, really, with very little money,” he said.

The tax would have generated about $7.5 million a year in new revenue and allow WRTA to restore night and weekend service as well as some single-passenger service in Mahoning County.

“We’ve made a bunch of cuts,” Ferraro said late Tuesday, adding that the agency will have to sit down and look at where it goes from here.

He said he doesn’t know if the issue will appear on the ballot again. That will require the approval of the county, the city and his board of directors, he said.

gwin@vindy.com