NEW DETAILS: Oakwood school district approves new tax levy for Nov. 7 election

The additional levy, if approved by voters Nov. 7, would cost a resident $236.25 more each year per $100,000 of appraised property value, according to the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office.

Voters will cast a single yes or no vote on the combined levy. Voter passage would provide 5.75 mills for day-to-day school operations and 1 mill for permanent improvements to facilities, generating a total of about $2.5 million per year, Oakwood Treasurer Laura Sauber said.

School board President John Wilson said the district “has great educators, classes and extracurricular opportunities and we want to continue to invest in and expand them for our students.”

“Our buildings are 100 years old and our community members value them,” Wilson said in an email. “The permanent improvement portion of the levy allows the district to continue to preserve them as well as provide necessary modernizations to security and technology.”

He said both portions of the levy “are critically important and we do not want to prioritize one over the other.”

The operating part of the levy would generate $2.1 million annually, according to the district, to be used for costs such as staffing and benefits, instructional materials and student programming, district officials said.

The 1 mill would generate $373,000 annually, according to the district. It would be used for facility improvements and maintenance, technology and security, officials said.

Oakwood voters this past November approved a five-year, 1.8-mill renewal levy for permanent improvements. It is expected to raise about $534,000 per year, officials said.

In 2019, Oakwood voters approved a school tax issue that was a combination levy/bond to raise money for $18 million in renovations to the district’s schools, as well as pay for day-to-day operating costs.

One piece was a permanent 4.99-mill levy to pay for higher personnel and operating expenses, which costs an extra $174.65 annually for a $100,000 home. The second part was a 37-year, 2.71-mill bond for the renovations, costing $94.85. That made the total cost of the 2019 tax $269.50 per $100,000 of property value.