Photos
Now that Westlake City Schools has a new contract with the teachers' union, attention is turning towards school funding.
The last operating levy was passed in 2006, said superintendant Dan Keenan. It was originally intended to be for four years.
At Wednesday's meeting of the Board of Education where the teachers' contract was approved, board members began talking about a new levy.
The board did not decide what the millage rate would be for a levy. Keenan estimated that it would be anywhere between 5.9 and 6.5 mills. According the the Cuyahoga County Auditor's Office, one mill of taxes equals $1 tax per $1,000 of assessed property value.
If a levy is to be on the ballot for the May 7 primary election, the district must file with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections by Feb. 6. Before that, Pepera would have to get the levy's millage rate certified by the Cuyahoga County Auditor.
Board president Tom Mays said he felt putting the levy on the spring ballot made the most sense, as it would give the district two opportunities to pass the levy. The levy must pass in 2013 for the district to start getting the money in 2014.
"If we don't pass this until 2014, that means we don't see the money until 2015," he said. "And that would likely lead to us having to make significant cuts."
Board member Nate Cross was not convinced.
"There are pros and cons to whether to do this in the spring," he said. "The whole community should be involved with this discussion. We should take the time to choose the best opportunity, and time is not on our side right now."
The board is scheduled to next meet on Jan. 28.
Take our poll and tell us what you think in the comments. Should the levy go on the spring ballot, or should the school board wait until November?
Chris M.
11:33 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
You should probably point out that the assessed value is usually only 35% of the appraised value. You can look up both on the Cuyahoga County website (taxes tab). So a 6.0 mill levy on a home appraised at $200,000 would increase your annual property taxes by $420.
Michael P, Neylon
11:41 pm on Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The community needs some very specific information about the school budget. I realize that the majority of the funds go to salaries. I believe the public needs to know what the projected operating costs of the school system would be based on minimum State and Federal mandated requirements.. To this we need to add the individual optional programs as line items and how many students are normally involved in each so it can be determined the cost per student. This will allow for a informed discussion on what should be included in the budget and what could be eliminated or used as pay to participate item. These line items are should be based on a fully loaded cost that includes not only the salaries but the cost of the facilities that are used to support same. An example would be the cost of the stadium as it relates to the football program along with the cost of the coaches etc. We should look towards other local school systems that have achieve the rating of Excellent with Distinction by the State of Ohio. A goal as a community should have and yet to achieve.Bay Village is one of those systems. Projections of the actual number of students that will be physically attending the Westlake system. Also the number of students in the community that will be attending private and procialhal schools as well as those that are being home schooled should be determined in order to quantify the impact on the State funds on the proposed budget.