A call from the state this summer prompted the Lebanon City School District to swing its levy machine into action.
In July, the Ohio Schools Construction Commission, which was created by the Legislature in 1997 to oversee the state’s school construction program, told the district it was Lebanon’s turn to get state money for new schools construction and renovation.
The state offered the district $45.1 million to upgrade and build new schools. But to get that money, the district has to raise $27.4 million, or 38 percent of the total project budget. The district has 13 months to do it.
“The reason why we’re doing this is that our number came up,” said Lebanon City Schools Superintendent Mark North. “It’s taken about 15 years (since the program was begun). But we were contacted by the state and they told us we had this opportunity for a limited time.”
The levy, which will on the ballot as Issue 13, actually is two levies that are required by the state. One is to come up with matching funds, and the other is to guarantee maintenance of the new facilities.
The construction levy, is a 1.87-mill new levy that will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $64.85 a year, said Matt Nolan, deputy chief auditor for Warren County. The maintenance levy is a 0.5-mill additional levy that would cost that same owner $17.50 a year.
Nolan said the district has paid off enough of an existing levy that it can lower the rate on it by 0.5 mills to offset the maintenance levy. But, Nolan said, that 0.5 mills will be coming off homeowners’ tax bills whether Issue 13 passes or not.
Ohio Schools Construction Commission spokesman Rick Savors confirmed that the district has 13 months to pass a levy or lose the immediate opportunity to get the funding.
“If they don’t raise it within 13 months they become a lapsed district, and the money we set aside for them goes back into our general appropriations for use on other projects,” Savors said.
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