London BOE answers questions
By Rob Treynor
Staff Writer
Over the weekend, a telephone call was made to all parents of London students urging them to attend Tuesday night’s Q&A meeting at London High School. Superintendent Steve Allen and the London Board of Education (BOE) planned to present their case for why the 7.5-mill emergency operating levy was on the forthcoming May ballot.
Rob Treynor - StaffDr. Martha Geib answers a parent's question Tuesday night as other BOE members listen in.
Approximately 50 parents attended the meeting in the London High School auditorium. Many were armed with questions about the recent cuts, future cuts, and questions about what will be restored with the passage of the levy.
“London residents are currently paying the lowest amount of school taxes required by Ohio law,” said Steve Allen at the beginning of his presentation to the crowd.
Allen’s presentation explained that last year’s income tax levy was merely a renewal, and thus didn’t bring any new money to the system.
“What we voted for was to continue a tax we already had,” said Allen. “In fact, due to the economy, income tax revenue was down $600,000 in 2009. “
“It’s been really hard for us to try to pinpoint exactly what the Governor’s budget is going to do to the schools,” Allen said, but continued with some facts gleaned from the budget. “Over the next two years we will lose $1,550,00 in tangible personal property tax income, unless the economy rebounds.”
Allen’s presentation emphasized that the new middle school was being built with state funds which already had been collected, and not local taxes. “Not a dime! Not a dime is coming out of your money or my money. It’s coming out of tobacco settlement funds that the state of Ohio received from the tobacco companies,” he said.
Allen then went over belt-tightening procedures that the district has already made:
• Employees of the school district pay 20 percent of family health insurance premiums and the staff have approved a less expensive plan, saving $200,000.
• The staff approved a 3 percent reduction in salaries, no step increases, no tuition reimbursement, a decrease in activities contracts, and fewer extended days. The savings from these items equal $388,509 for next year.
• Decreased administrative/supervisory staff by three positions, saving $238,000 per year from 2006-2011 for a total savings of $1,190,000. Plus two additional administrative positions have been trimmed, saving $150,000 per year.
Increased the pay-to-participate fee from $45 to $100, generating $37,000 per year. “One hundred dollars per sport may seem like a lot, but if you look around central Ohio, you’ll see that this price could be far, far worse.” Allen said.
At the conclusion of his presentation, Rev. Gordon Johnson, a London resident for 43 years and pastor of the London First Presbyterian Church, moderated the question and answer portion of the evening.
Parents wrote their queries onto 3×5 note cards which were collected by BOE members and then read by Johnson.
Rob Treynor - StaffRev. Gordon Johnson, a London resident for 43 years and pastor of the London First Presbyterian Church, moderated the question and answer portion of the evening.
The following are among the questions answered by board members:
Q: Is there a published budget?
A: Anything regarding financing is published every month and are available on the BOE’s website.
Q: What happens if the levy doesn’t pass in May 3?
A: It’s difficult to project if it does pass whether we can maintain. But if it fails, it’s obvious that more cuts will be necessary.
Q: Will sports be cut next?
A: The board has never discussed what the next round of cuts would entail.
Q: Isn’t busing for high school students mandated?
A: Busing is mandated for K-6 for students two miles from the school. We will continue to bus in-town students K-8.
Q: If levy doesn’t pass, will the middle school sit empty?
A: No. There’s no reason for that. The middle school will be a savings. It will cost the district more to stay put since the school system would have to pay rent to the City of London, who are the current owners of the property.
Q: Would the tax be paid only by people within the city limits or by people throughout the school district?
A: Everyone in the school district would pay. And there is no truth to the rumor being circulated that Choctaw residents do not pay school taxes now.
Q: Are the administrators also the lowest paid in the county, like the teachers?
To this question, the board did not know the answer, but promised to research the answer and post the answer on the school’s website.
To submit a question to the school board, and to read responses to other questions, one can go to http://bit.ly/eDUj3n.
From LCS own Q&A section of their website. Why now at this meeting are we going to be 1.5 million short. Which are we to believe the BOE and Steve Allens website or when the BOE and Steve Allen have a town hall meeting?
———————–taken from lcs website—–
Why is the district asking for a tax on property as opposed to another tax?
We cannot ask for a tax on anything other than income or property. We believe the 1% income tax is high enough and the district is collecting less from the income tax because income is down during these difficult economic times. Property values have remained relatively level in the past few years. In normal times property values increase moderately. At this time, overall we see no increase and no decrease. And, the London school district residents are taxed at the lowest rate permitted by Ohio law – 20 mills. No one wants an increase in taxes of any type, but this request seems to make the most sense at this time.
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Q: Are the administrators also the lowest paid in the county, like the teachers?
To this question, the board did not know the answer, but promised to research the answer and post the answer on the school’s website.
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Until this is true – we won’t be voting for the levy. Same thing for the BOE; until they lower their pay to the minimum, we will not be voting for the levy. Belt tightening needs to happen from the TOP to the bottom. The teachers and support staff have made their sacrifices … let’s see the administration put their money where their mouths are.
If this latest propaganda is true, just how bad is the city of london and choctaw lake? They must be almost bankrupt with no one paying taxes. 1.5 million more a year because everyone is not paying property tax? My street and surrounding streets still have people living there and my tax bill has not gone down because of the recession. London doesn’t appear to look like a ghost town. Seems the board and superintendent are lying again, what is the real reason. They say they don’t have a number for the new budget from the governor. Seems like more lies and we are to do our best for the kids to cover their ineptness..
Worried:
here’s a link of property foreclosures for the state of Ohio. http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/disputeResolution/foreclosure/ForeclosureFiling2001_2010.xls
You’ll see, if you add 2011 foreclosure numbers, that approximately 500 homes in the area have already been foreclosed upon in the past two years.
Can you tell me that if a house is foreclosed that no property tax is due and of those 500 homes are they now empty, and not paying property taxes? Hard to believe the state forgives property tax? Or is the saying death and taxes only two things you cant avoid unless its property tax.
Your numbers are for all of madison county. How many are for london city school district and what is the real number? Do they get relieved of that tax burden in a forecloser? When the bank takes over the house do they not have to pay taxes? When they sell the house do they not have to bring the house up to date with taxes?
Worried:
You’ve brought up some good questions. I’ve called the auditor’s office and they’re collecting data. I’ll try to put together as story based on that data ASAP. Thanks for reading.
I am pretty torn on this whole situation. Yes, the BOE has made a huge mistake in not fixing the budget BEFORE it got this bad. Yes, our children are going to suffer because of the BOE’s mistakes. I as a parent of a LCS child feel that I cannot say no to a levy as it will affect my child. I also feel i should say no because it seems as though the deficiency of the BOE has now been put on the shoulders of the London residents. Why do I (we) have to cover the BOE’s rears when they were the ones that messed up….not the residents. As irritated as we all are we have to stop and put the children first. They are the future of this community and they are all we have left. I do think that residents that do not have children in the school system are gong to vote against the levy. With the economy now it’s pretty brazen to ask for more money when most of us are now having to decide between food or gas in our car to get to work. Either way, I really hope LCS gets their books where they need to be and our children stop suffering as a result of negligence on the part of the BOE.
London residents are currently paying the lowest amount of school taxes required by Ohio law,” said Steve Allen at the beginning of his presentation to the crowd.
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This is true if you consider ONLY your property taxes! If you add in the personal INCOME TAX, this is NOT a true statement. I don’t know if this is a deception, or just a matter of not telling the WHOLE truth.
Second point..
I am personally tired of the school using my children as their personal servants, and message carriers. Years ago my child came home with papers and told me that I HAD TO vote for the school, because his teacher said so, and if I didn’t vote for the school then I didn’t care about him and the other kids. The other day I was given the latest propaganda that my child carried home. The back of that letter had an application for an Absentee ballot.
There is a seperation of the School Board/Administration and the Levy Committee…as there should be. Let the BOE and the Superintendent work with what they have. Let them figure out what has happened to this point. Let them explain to us why there is SUCH a deficit. Let them present the plan on how certain areas will be handled (phys. ed and music come to mind).
Then let the Levy Committee distribute their information in a legal manner.
Will this levy pass? From what I’m hearing it has no chance at all. But once the bussing gets cut, and other measures that effect the parents come to light, then in the future this will get passed.