Two Avon school issues on the March 6 ballot
LORAIN COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS
March Primary 2012 ISSUE LIST
Issue 3 Avon City 1-B, Local Option - Sunday Sales, Two Bucks Avon
Issue 4 Avon 2-A, Local Option - Sunday Sales, Walmart
Issue 11 Avon Local School District
Bond 2.25 mills
Construction and remodeling
Issue 12 Avon Local School District
Renewal 3.21 mills
Emergency Requirements of the school district
Issue 15 Lorain County JVS
Renewal of .75 mill and Inc. of .5 mill to equal 1.25 mills Current Expenses
Issue 17 Lorain County General Health District
Renewal 1 mill Operating Expenses of the Lorain County General Health District
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2presspapers.northcoastnow.com/jvs-reduces-millage-duration-of-march-levy-request/
NEWS ARTICLE from The Press, 1-21-12, By Beth Mlady
JVS reduces millage, duration of March levy request
NORTH RIDGEVILLE -- With voters having spoken overwhelmingly against a 1.75-mill, 10-year tax request at the polls last November [2011], Lorain County JVS Superintendent John Nolan has a new plan of action. The levy failed in every school district except Oberlin, where the school is located (see below) ...
The March levy, to be listed on the ballot as Issue 15 as it was in November, will seek a smaller amount -- 1.25 mills -- and for only five years ...
"Here's the deal: There were 70,000 jobs in Ohio that could not be filled due to the skills gap last year," he said. "Now, there's 85,000 jobs, the majority in engineering, welding, machining, technology and the medical field. Those jobs are going to go somewhere. What we're seeing is, a majority of the manufacturing that we were shipping to China has come home (to the United States). Where's it going to go if we can't do it? Where else can (students) go to get the training?"
Nolan believes the economy is improving and voters need to recognize what that means to the JVS ...
JVS District Treasurer Cory Thompson said state funding cuts "have taken $1.1 million out of our revenue stream."
"You look at that and the property values, and the school has not seen any type of increase since 2008," Thompson said.
The election will take place March 6 [2012].
November 2011 JVS levy results
District For Against +/-
Amherst 2,316 2,653 -337
Avon 3,238 4,291 -1,053
Avon Lake 4,405 4,580 -175
Elyria 6,057 7,451 -1,394
Lorain 1,310 1,540 -230
N. Ridgeville 4,140 6,392 -2,252
Oberlin 2,237 623 +1,614
Sheffield Lake 1,0851 [Error] 730 -645
Vermilion 212 297 -85
Villages, Twps 9,399 13,819 -4,420
Total 34,399 ,43,376 -8,977
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NEWS ARTICLE from The Press, 12-12-11, By Rebecca Turman
AVON -- In March [2012], the Avon Local School District will ask Avon voters to pass a renewal operating levy and a bond issue to build a new middle school.
The Avon Board of Education voted Nov. 30 during a special meeting to place a 3.21-mill, 10-year operating renewal levy request on the ballot.
If the renewal levy passes, the owner of a $100,000 home would continue to pay $98.32 annually for 10 years, according to Avon Local School District Treasurer Kent Zeman ...
The board also decided to once again place on the ballot a request for a 2.25-mill bond issue for a new middle school. Voters, however, would only be assessed 1.25 mills for the bond issue, if it's approved in March [2012]. [Issue 11 is a 2.25-mill bond issue. If the Board of Education only needed 1.25 mills, why did they put a 2.25-mill issue on the ballot?]
The bond issue would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $38.29 each year for the next 32 years and would raise $32 million over that time period.
The bond issue failed on the November [2011] ballot by only 171 votes, according to official results from the Lorain County Board of Elections.
Out of 14,381 registered voters, 54.91 percent, or 7,897 residents, came out to vote in November [2011], according to the board of elections. That's lower than the turnout for the 2010 general election. While 14,201 Avon residents were registered to vote at that time, 9,005 cast their votes, or 63.41 percent.
"It was so close," Avon Board of Education Vice President Scott Radcliffe said in an interview last week. "You had so many people supporting it."
If the bond issue passes in March [2012], Radcliffe said district officials would work hard to open the new middle school by the original goal of the 2014-15 school year.
However, if the bond issue fails in March, Radcliffe said, "You'll have to pull back the reins and delay it a year or two." ...
With the approval of voters, the proposed middle school would house 1,200 students, expandable to accommodate up to 1,600 students.
During the 2010-11 school year, the enrollment for Avon Middle School ... was 612. MKC Associates, an architecture and engineering design firm, predicts the middle school enrollment will rise to 756 by 2014. The district expects at least 730 students by that time.
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www.cleveland.com/avon/index.ssf/2012/01/how_will_avon_residents_vote_o.html
NEWS ARTICLE from The Sun, 1-26-12, By Leona Y. Johnson
Avon residents will be asked to vote for a pair of school issues on the March 6 primary election ballot ...
Issue 11 is a bond issue that will finance construction of a new middle school. District officials said the new building is needed to eliminate overcrowding at the existing middle school. Funds will also be used for work at Heritage North and South elementary schools.
The bond issue, if approved, will raise $32 million that will be repaid over 32 years. Homeowners will pay an additional $39 per year in property taxes for each $100,000 of their home valuation ...
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COMMENTARY
Commentator 1 wrote:
Advice for anyone with a family moving to growing outer 'burbs: Make sure you can afford it because the school and city operations will have to be financed to deal with the growth. Simple common sense.
Commentator 2 wrote:
Hey Leona, how about letting us know what the millage of both levies is. It's a central fact you have omitted.
Leona Y. Johnson, Sun News January 26, 2012 wrote:
I apologize for leaving that information out.
Issue 11 it is a 2.25-mill bond issue. The debt structure is different this time. Homeowners would only be assessed 1.25 mills instead of the 2.25 mills, because the school district is building in a drop of 1 mill for 2014-15. By moving the drop up to 2012, homeowners will be assessed only 1.25 mills. [What is the purpose of this flim-flammery?] That is why property taxes will only increase by approximately $39 a year. [And increase much more in subsequent years?]
Issue 12 is a renewal levy that combines two levies that are expiring. The size of the combined levy will be 3.21 mills, which equals the amount voters previously approved. Since this combined levy is a renewal of existing levies, it will not increase taxes. The combined renewal levy will generate $2.5 million annually over the next 10 years. School officials said they were blending the levies to help alleviate voter fatigue, and to allow residents a chance to vote on the funds.
Commentator 2 wrote:
Thanks Leona for the info. I've found that sometimes the estimate for cost per $100,000 of house can be inaccurate. Other reporters also neglected to mention the millage in the county Health and Human services levy coming up.
Commentator 3 wrote:
NO on 11
the voters have already spoken on this issue in a fair and valid election -- we should NOT be forced to have to vote on this again..
The process ignores the vote of the majority ( until the school board gets its desired result)
Hey school board "respect the vote" stop spending money on these elections OR make it fair and allow us to vote each year on all taxes!!
Commentator 4 wrote:
... please don't give me the argument that if THESE levies fail, then our property values will fall. They already have despite passage of levy after levy after levy in Avon.
Unless and UNTIL the school board stops the ridiculos bus policy of stopping at every littl johnnie or susie's house in a given development, they are not getting my vote. FYI a school bus stopped 10 times in a distance of .4 of a mile_RIDICULOUS.
Commentator 5 wrote:
There is nothing so permanent as a temporary tax. Case in Point -
Emergency School Levies
Phase 1: EMERGENCY levy for X number of years. The quality of your child's education will be reduced to terrible and they will have no prayer of being able to lead a meaningful life.
Phase 2,3 ... : After X number of years. NO NEW TAXES, RENEWAL emergency school levy. Failure to renew will result in 'The quality of your child's education will be reduced to terrible and they will have no prayer of being able to lead a meaningful life.'.
When was the last time an emergency level was NOT put up for renewal? If it is going to be a PERMANENT levy, run it as a permanent levy.
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Commentator 6 wrote:
Head room parents please pass along this message from Kent Zeman to all parents in your rooms, thank you!
"Between now and March 6th it is imperative that you help spread the word about both issues #11 and #12 and encourage all of your group(s) members to remember to vote on March 6th.
Both issues are critical to the ongoing success of the Avon Local Schools. We need to promote the issues at every opportunity.
Please talk to your neighbors and friends about the importance of both of these issues.
Thank you again for all that you do for the children of Avon and your volunteerism."
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Commentator 7 wrote:
Let me say, I applaud the efforts of both our passionate parents and school administrators for keeping our schools a bright star in our community. Both are doing a fantastic job!
However, regardless of your vote "yes or no" on these two issues 11 and 12, I ask that you ask some tough questions before jumping on the band wagon in light of what has come up lately with other schools districts that did expand, built new schools and now are in "fiscal emergency" because they can't operate them.
[Olmsted Falls is handling a student population bulge with trailers, rather than with expensive buildings. The drop in Avon housing construction means that we have a bulge, not a never-ending increase. Cleveland and inner ring suburbs are losing students.]
Fiscal emergency means the state comes in and operates your school and usually the residents either put up the tax money or surrender to embarrasement.
These are tough times and I have a few questions or thoughts to present here. Please read on as I have links to the Ohio Dept of Education on Avon's 5 year Forecast. See it yourself, it's the school board's report.
First of all, our current high school is "under capacity" with room to house our 8th grade believe it or not. I'm not advocating we move them up as maturity is definitly an issue but this fact is never brought up when the new construction question comes about. My point is we said we needed it then and look, it sits partially empty now.
Second, I'm not sure about you but I don't like a combination of two levies running at the same time -- one that is for an "Emergency Renewal Levy" and the other a "Bond Issue for New School Construction"
I realize we have this 46 acres of land burning a hole in our pocket full of dreams and ambition, but on one hand we use the phrase "Emergency" and on the other hand we say "Spend - build a new school".
Somehow that seems a bit contradictory. We simply have to operate our school based upon what grants, tax dollars and state funds are provided to us now and thus the reason for the emergency renewal levy.
If a new school is built, we will need another "new" levy to operate it as well. My point is that our cost per $100,000 evaluation might not seem that bad ($39) but five years from now we'll all be paying significantly more in taxes to operate our schools which means more levies on the horizon.
Just see our "5 year forecast provided by our school board to the Ohio Dept of Education" which is required. It looks bleak and in a deficit even before ground breaking on a new school.
fyf.oecn.k12.oh.us/genForecast.asp?IRN=48116&Format=HTML
My point is we are walking into a situation that is presented as a need based upon enrollment growth but fiscally a deeper hole for Avon in the future that will require significant more property tax.
Just look at the latest district in the news - Cloverleaf Schools in Medina (wow, nice looking new schools) but they can't operate them.
medinagazette.northcoastnow.com/2012/01/25/cloverleaf-schools-are-in-a-fiscal-emergency/
Lorain Schools which receives a "disporportionate gain" in State Funding due to the unconstitutional HB 920 that Mr. Zemen is always mentioning (yet no school district legally challenges it in court!).
In fact Lorain Schools which has built some new schools recently is about to go into Fiscal Emergency and be taken over by the state.
Every new building you build requires more funds to operate. Our dear Gov. Kasich has done nothing to help out schools and is not going to ...
Additionally, enclosed is a link to valuable info and reports on our district that is housed at the Ohio Department of Education
education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEPrimary.aspx?page=2&TopicID=3&TopicRelationID=390
Also, from last reports from the Ohio Lottery which operates solely to help our schools but distributes money by county much under the same formula of HB 920 (which is unconstitutional).
Lorain County receives on average about $18,000,000 from the lottery proceeds ($750M annually) and Avon School District received $271,000 or just 1.5% of the total for our county. You guessed it -- Elyria and Lorain Schools suck up most of it ...
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Commentator 8 wrote:
Tying this bond issue to closing the Village School is a bad idea. Soaring Little Eagles should be at a one-floor school NOW because of their disabilities. Otherwise, a 3-story school helps control child obesity and provides a brain-energizing exercise opportunity climbing stairs.
A reason former Lorain Superintendent Atkinson may have left Ohio is because, after wasting millions of tax dollars in Lorain on new schools, she knows there will be no gain in student test scores.
Closing the Village School is a prelude to demolition.
How about showing Avon taxpayers some consideration by utilizing our existing resources?
Former Avon Superintendent Bob Barnhart had an interesting letter in The Press on 7-28-10:
"... It's an accepted fact that Avon High School has about 15 classrooms not being used. According to our Avon school treasurer, an open enrollment student would bring $5,700 ... to our school district.
Therefore [200 open enrollment students -- 50 per grade] would mean an additional $1.14 million to Avon School revenues.
The employment of 8 additional teachers to accommodate the 200 open enrollment students would cost approximately $344,000 (8 x $43,000), resulting in about $796,000 net gain."
$1,140,000 - $344,000 = $796.000
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR of The Press, 2-29-12,
by Bob Barnhart, former Avon Schools Superintendent
The Avon Board of Education's consideration of a 32-year bond issue to build a new middle school does not seem to be logical:
1. The November [2011] issue of Avon Avenues and a newspaper release of 11-27-11 states that Avon Middle School is operating at 122 percent of capacity, with 100 students over capacity.
The publicized figure of 500 capacity for Avon Middle School is grossly in error and, therefore, misleading to Avon taxpayers. I believe the student capaciry to be in the 650 - 700 range.
2. The student capacity for our Avon Village School is listed as 440 and actual attendance of 463, which, according to Avenue Avenues, represents 105 percent of capacity.
I believe ... that 344 students are in attendance at Avon Village School each day representing 78 percent of stated capacity of 440 ...
The Board has counted 75 half-day kindergarten and 44 half-day pre-school students as full time to justify their ... attendance figure of 463.
I was informed by the Avon Administration that if the proposed new middle school is approved, the Village School would be "mothballed" [and then demolished]. This seems illogical to me because the Board's projections of pre-K [and] K through 2017-2018 (465 students) could be handled by keeping the Village School open for instruction.
3. The Avon Middle School's last addition was built in 1972-1973 and should be considered for an addition at this time, instead of a new middle school.
Tentative plans were considered, following the 1972-73 addition, to add eight or nine more classrooms, [and] enlarge the library, cafeteria, and music room. This could be accomplished faster and less expensively to Avon taxpayers.
The Board has not studied the alternative of adding 17 classrooms (eight at Heritage and nine at Middle), which would meet the needs through 2017-2018, based on the Board's projections.
Obviously, significantly higher operating costs will result from a new building as compared to my suggested building additions.
RESULTS
3 Avon City 1B - Local Option /Two Bucks Avon
----------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 1
Precincts Reporting 1 100.0%
YES -------------------- 237 70.54%
NO -------------------- 99 29.46%
4 Avon City 2A - Local Option /Walmart
---------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 1
Precincts Reporting 1 100.0%
YES -------------------- 359 66.11%
NO -------------------- 184 33.89%
11 Avon LSD - Bond/ Construction and Remodeling
---------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 13
Precincts Reporting 13 100.0%
FOR THE BOND ISSUE ---- 2818 48.74%
AGAINST THE BOND ISSUE 2964 51.26%
12 Avon LSD - Ren'l/ Emergency Requirements
---------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 13
Precincts Reporting 13 100.0%
FOR THE TAX LEVY ------ 3328 57.32%
AGAINST THE TAX LEVY -- 2478 42.68%
15 Lorain County JVS - Ren'l and Increase
----------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 163 Precincts Reporting 163 100.0%
FOR THE TAX LEVY ----- 21770 47.94%
AGAINST THE TAX LEVY - 23640 52.06%
17 Lorain Co. General Health Dist.
----------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 100
Precincts Reporting 100 100.0%
FOR THE TAX LEVY ----- 16036 51.50%
AGAINST THE TAX LEVY - 15104 48.50%
Rep President Del./Alt. At Large
----------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 199
Precincts Reporting 199 100.0%
Newt Gingrich 3629 15.13%
Jon Huntsman 127 0.53%
Ron Paul 1960 8.17%
Rick Perry 150 0.63%
Mitt Romney 10660 44.45%
Rick Santorum 7458 31.10%
Rep President District Del./Alt. 4th Dist
----------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 76
Precincts Reporting 76 100.0%
Newt Gingrich 1290 16.55%
Jon Huntsman 63 0.81%
Ron Paul 777 9.97%
Rick Perry 81 1.04%
Mitt Romney 3128 40.13%
Rick Santorum 2456 31.51%
Rep President District Del./Alt. 7th Dist
----------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 53
Precincts Reporting 53 100.0%
Newt Gingrich 1500 15.55%
Jon Huntsman 64 0.66%
Ron Paul 939 9.73%
Rick Perry 90 0.93%
Mitt Romney 4071 42.20%
Rick Santorum 2984 30.93%
Rep President District Del./Alt. 9th Dist
----------------------- Total
Number of Precincts 70
Precincts Reporting 70 100.0%
Newt Gingrich 1546 28.10%
Jon Huntsman 93 1.69%
Ron Paul 700 12.72%
Rick Perry 158 2.87%
Mitt Romney 3005 54.62%
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