Canfield board awaits levy recommendation

By Ashley Luthern | June 7, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

CANFIELD

The Canfield Board of Education will receive a recommendation June 20 from the district’s administration whether a new levy should be placed before voters and if so, when and at what millage.

The school board met in a work session Wednesday to review the district’s most-recent five-year forecast, which it submitted to the state last Thursday.

The district’s ending cash balance plummets from about $2.3 million at the close of fiscal year 2014 to $157,927 by the end of fiscal year 2015. The cash balance at the end of fiscal year 2016 is expected to be in the red about $2.5 million, according to the forecast.

Treasurer Patricia Kesner outlined assumptions in the forecast, such as continuing to receive about $6 million in state aid and 10-percent inflationary increase in health-care costs in fiscal years 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The district generated about $145,000 this school year through pay-to- participate fees, and Kesner said that amount was included throughout the forecast.

The forecast also continues the district’s trend of deficit spending, she said.

“When you are deficit spending, you’re spending your surplus and carry-over. It becomes exponential, and you dig yourself into a hole that becomes harder to get out of,” Kesner said.

Residents will see 1-mill reduction this year on their property taxes as a bond issue is paid off, which is in addition to the 1.5-mills that came off last year, also because of a bond issue, she said.

Board President Adrianne Sturm said the forecast would look much worse without the cuts made throughout the district. She praised district employees for their role in keeping costs manageable.

Teachers agreed to a base and step-payment freeze for fiscal years 2013 and 2014, and classified employees, bus drivers and administrators all took step-payment and wage freezes for fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014, according to records.

But the cuts will not change the fact the district will need more revenue, Sturm said.

“Like our budgets at home, everything increases in cost, and so do the costs in a school district. Unless the state takes a 180-degree turn and provides more funding, we have no alternative but to ask for local support,” she said.