Schools
CHUH School District Will Likely Put 6.9-Mill Levy on November Ballot
The Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District voted in the first reading to reduce the Lay Finance Committee's levy recommendation from 7.2 to 6.9 mills
Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board members debated Tuesday night about how much they should ask from voters in November, but in the end unanimously settled on a 6.9-mill levy.
The Lay Finance Committee crunched numbers from Chief Financial Officer Scott Gainer’s and recommended that the board put a 7.2-mill levy — the same amount passed in 2007 — on the ballot in November to sustain the district's current programming and to avoid cuts, said Jayne Geneva, chair of the committee. Six residents form the committee, which stated that an for the school district to continue at its current level.
But some board members wanted to know how low they could go without cutting people or academic programs.
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Gainer provided a few more options. If the district put a 6.9-mill levy on the ballot, CHUH Schools would have to cut $250,000 from the budget. A 6.5-mill levy would require a $600,000 cut.
For homeowners, a 7.2-mill levy would have meant a tax increase of $220 per year for every $100,000 in property valuation. Instead, the district plans to put a levy on the ballot that asks residents to pay $211 a year per every $100,000.
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School Board member Kal Zucker said he was torn. He appreciated and respected the Lay Finance Committee’s recommendation, but thought the district needed to send an important message to voters.
“I would be supportive in getting (the millage amount) under seven … our community has a huge burden on them. We would then have the message to say that this is really less than what the committee has recommended. We don’t feel like we can go way off track here, but what we can do is share in your pain,” Zucker said.
School Board President Eric Coble said a lower amount would affect the on-the-fence voters psychologically — the district is asking for less than last time.
School Board member Karen Jones initially wanted to remain at the 7.2-mill level, and disagreed that the levy amount would affect voters.
“I’m not in favor in working on the bare minimum. I think we have started a rebirth, a renaissance in the district,” Jones said, emphasizing that she would not want any staff members to lose their jobs as a result of cuts that would be necessary with a lower millage. “We’re on a roll to something bigger and better and to say well, we want to do bigger and better and we want to have you come to our district … but we’re going to do it on the bare minimum — I’m not in favor of that.
“I think us having good schools, great schools that we as a community have to do what we have to do to maintain it. You don’t get something for cheap.”
Ron Register, school board vice president, agreed with Jones. The district proved its financial savvy and responsibility by stretching a three-year levy to four, and , so a 7.2-mill levy would be fair.
School board member Nancy Peppler said she was anxious about the ramifications if the majority of voters say no. If the levy does not pass, the district will have to cut more than $7 million, Gainer said.
“I have such fear about November. I have such fear about us not passing a levy and having to make (millions) in cuts or have to come back with an 18-mill levy, which will never, ever pass,” Peppler said. “Anything we can do to get it down, within reason … I want to do it for my neighbors who are still laid off, and I want to do it for my kids who are in these schools, because I don't want to be here in mid-November realizing we have to make $6 million in cuts.”
It was essential that board members decide what amount they’d put on the November ballot Tuesday night. The resolution requires two readings, and the board has to submit an issue to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections by Aug. 10 to get it on the November ballot.
“I would say with a degree of confidence we could get under seven without putting any undue stress on the success of the academic programs which we're starting to build,” Superintendent Douglas Heuer said.
Gainer also said that he thought they could cut $250,000 without laying off employees.
Peppler moved to put a 6.9-mill levy on the ballot in November, and every board member voted in favor of the measure during the first reading.
“I hope that it does not affect staff, that it does not affect people … I would feel betrayed," Jones said.
Look for more from last night's school board meeting in future articles.
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