STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Strongsville voters are being asked to decide this November the fate of Issue 14, the renewal of 5.9 mill operating levy voters first approved in May 2019.
Facing a budget shortfall at the time after the defeat of a November 2018 levy, the Strongsville School District was forced to make a series of cuts and asked voters to approve a levy that would allow the district to maintain its existing level of programs, services and staffing. And for the first time since 2007, voters approved that new money in the form of a five-year levy that district officials say has been such a success that they're looking to extend it for five more years.
"That's why passing Issue 14 is so important to us; it will let us continue the great things we're doing for our kids, and I can't stress enough since it's a renewal levy, it means no new taxes," said Strongsville Board of Education President Laura Wolfe-Housum.
That's a reasonable ask, says Strongsville resident Shannon Ingram.
"I always vote for levies, I have two children in the public system, and even if I didn't, I know there's a lot of people prior to me that paid it forward, and I plan to do the same thing," she said.
Those opposed to Issue 14 say that the 2019 levy has been such a success and the school district managed the money so well that it's generated a surplus of funds. That's why they'd like to meet the district in the middle. Instead of continuing the roughly $10 million levy, cut the ask of taxpayers to $5 million.
"What we're asking voters to do this year, this November, is to vote no on Issue 14, go back to our school board members and in March ask them to put a smaller levy that would be more appropriate, that would right-size our budget," said Strongsville GOP Chair Shannon Burns.
The district's treasurer, though, says the $10 million ask is needed because under Ohio law, the money school districts get from a given levy doesn't increase if property values do; it must stay flat in this case at that 2019 level, though for the schools, inflation continues to go up.
"So as part of that levy cycle in the beginning, there was naturally going to be an increase of cash balance, and now we're in the back end where we're spending that down," said George Anagnostou. "So as our revenue sources stay somewhat flat, are expenditures increase due to annual inflationary costs. As we've seen the last few years, inflation has been increasing, so it's been causing our expenses to increase, so for us, this renewal levy is important to sustain our operations."
Opponents point to the $71 million the district held in cash reserve, but that's a number the district says has been cut to $46 million when it transferred $25 million into a capital projects fund to offset the cost of future growth and its impact on taxpayers.
"We have been doing a facilities study with a group of community members; it made a recommendation to the Board of Education about adopting a new facilities master plan, which was adopted by the board in October, and the board is considering a bond issue in the future for 2024, potentially the March ballot," said Anagnostou.
Burns said that's a worthy discussion but one for the future.
"I think that's a separate discussion. Right now, what we're talking about is the operating funds," Burns said.
