
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS The Pike Delta York Local School District Board of Education holds their regular March meeting Pictured are from left CFOTreasurer Matt Feasel board member Jeff Lintermoot board member Jackie Chiesa Board President Alice Simon Board Vice President Jeremy Lohman board Member Tim Ford and Superintendent Jon Burke
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The double trouble of tax abatements pulling away funding that would come their way and a replacement levy that just won’t seem to pass were the focus of discussion at the Pike-Delta-York Local School District Board of Education Meeting last week.
Most pressing is the problem of the 5.31 mill replacement levy, the loss of which would likely mean staffing cuts, among other actions. It initially failed 987-1,743 last November, then failed a second time last month by 808-940.
There is still some hope of getting the levy back on the ballot in the November 5 general election.
The district faced a similar problem the last time they tried to pass a levy. A 1 percent income tax levy failed 1,714 to 2,309 in November of 2020 before passing in May of the following year by a vote of 1,090 to 765.
At the same time, the district has an opportunity to share its voice with the Delta Village Council on an issue that could also help improve future finances.
The district currently misses out on a large chunk of funding due to tax abatements, and getting rid of a guaranteed 100 percent tax abatement on certain new developments is in line with their current goals.
The Community Reinvestment Area in Delta has been the source of great debate both in favor of and opposed to reducing the size of the area of changing the program to bring it under newer post-1994 rules that would give the village (and the school district) more negotiating power.
According to district CFO/Treasurer Matt Feasel, the district is missing out on roughly $550,000 per year due to tax abatements, including the CRA abatements.
“Community members in this village have picked up the tab for shareholders of NorthStar, Nature Fresh, and so on and so forth, and that is because of the previous village administrator’s decision [to establish a guaranteed 100 percent abatement CRA program],” board member Tim Ford said.
The potential loss of the substitute levy isn’t just painful as a loss of revenue, but as the loss of what is meant to help balance the losses from things like abatements.
“The advantage of the substitute levy even though, despite all the tax abatements that we have, that was one instrument that fought this, and as those would roll off, that valuation, we would generate additional income,” Feasel said.
That growth is still not enough to make up for the loss of the levy, and Superintendent Jon Burke said
“A lot of levies went down in our area, and in a time where inflation is going up and it feels like expenses are going out of control, this is one thing voters could control,” Burke said.
“We have some work to do to educate our voters on what all these abatements are doing as far as how they’re impacting the schools, and I say that there’s very differing opinions in the community about what those abatements are doing,” he later added.
According to Burke, if they are unsuccessful in getting the levy passed, they will be going back for a new levy request. If it is allowed to roll off, he said, “there’s no doubt in the future we’re looking at some kind of reductions.”
“I feel like we have a really nice financial package that allows for a nice diverse burden of taxes, and it’s not a lot of taxes, especially compared to our neighboring communities,” he said. “So, it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating.”
Burke commented on the pre-1994 CRA, saying taxpayers have picked up the tab for industrial infrastructure on the west end, and it’s time for those companies to “pay their fair share now.”
Board members were also concerned about the possible triple whammy of the levy falling off, the village choosing to stay with the pre-1994 CRA and not shrink it, and new residential developments going in, bringing a large influx of new students for the schools.
OTHER BUSINESS
The board approved early graduation for Emma Ashby and Alexis Savage. The board approved a variety of personnel changes, including a pair of resignations and new contracts related to a pair of internal moves, as well as supplemental contracts for three assistant track coaches.
Burke read a statement regarding the district’s receipt of federal IDEA-B funds for special education purposes. “The district is required to notify district residents of the availability of the funds and provide an opportunity for input on the expenditure of these funds,” Burke said.
“The district currently receives approximately $315,000 annually for special need services contracted through the Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center.”
The board approved an overnight trip to the History Day State Competition on April 20 at Capital University in Columbus. Children will be transported to the event by their parents.
The board ended the public portion of the meeting by going into executive session for the purpose of “the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of an employee or the investigation of charges or complaints against an employee, or official, licensee, or student.” No action was expected as a result of the session.
The next regular meeting of the Pike-Delta-York Local School District Board of Education will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.