Sunday, April 16, 2017
POLAND
Poland voters will decide whether to renew two school levies in the May primary election.
One is a five-year renewal of a 1-mill permanent-improvement levy that generates $380,839 annually.
School district Treasurer Janet Muntean said funds from this levy, which originally was approved by voters in 1978, have been designated to repay a loan that was taken out to pay for various improvements at school buildings.
The second is a five-year renewal of a 5.7-mill emergency levy that was approved in 2012. That levy generates $2,181,867 per year.
Revenue from the emergency levy pays for district operating expenses, Muntean said.
She said it is “very important” that the renewals pass.
“All of the renewals are important to keep the district operating. There are a lot of uncertainties going on with the governor’s budget, so them not being passed at this time – it’s critical that they’re passed,” she said.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich has proposed a school-funding plan that would cut funding to most school districts in the state.
The district’s last financial forecast, which it must submit twice a year to the state, showed that the district is projected to spend more money than it takes in over the next several years. The treasurer’s office currently is preparing a forecast to submit in May. Muntean said that so far it, looks like that projection will hold true in the new forecast.
“It does look like if we had to submit it today, we would be short,” she said. “Our total expenditures are exceeding our revenue for fiscal year 2017.”
Poland schools operate on an approximately $20 million annual general-fund budget and employ 262 people, according to information provided by the treasurer’s office.