BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
FAIRFIELD -- An increase in the amount of state aid Fairfield City Schools will receive the next two years may mean postponement of a November levy.
District Treasurer James Rowan said he received information last week from the Ohio Department of Education that shows the district will receive $400,000 more than projected this year and about $430,000 more the following year.
That extra money will reduce the projected deficit at the end of the 1998-99 school year to just under $40,000. The board could use part of its $300,000 contingency fund to balance the books, Mr. Rowan said.
"This is great news for Fairfield," Mr. Rowan said. "We're not in the financial crisis we thought we might be in. By waiting, we now have better figures from the state than we did six months ago."
Revised projections show the projected June 2000 deficit at slightly more than $305,000. By closely monitoring purchases and using the contingency fund, the district could probably end the 1999-2000 school year with a near-zero balance, Mr. Rowan said.
"We've got all the tools we need now to make the decision of whether we want to go on the ballot or not," Mr. Rowan told board members Thursday.
Board members said they would study the figures and decide at an Aug. 13 meeting whether the district should pursue the November measure. The deadline for putting a levy on the November ballot is Aug. 20.
Last month, the board looked at levy amounts between 2.9 mills and 4.9 mills. Mr. Rowan said the revised financial forecast shows a 2.9 mill levy would raise $2.6 million annually and would allow the district to end the 2001-2002 school year with a $1.1 million balance.
Such a request would cost the owner of a home with a market value of $100,000 an additional $89 in new taxes annually.
"If we went on the ballot in November it would give us some flexibility and allow us to plan long-term," Mr. Rowan said. "It would allow us to keep millage low. We could probably make it through the next two school years, but we wouldn't be able to make any improvements."
Going on the ballot also would allow educators to use the system's contingency fund to hire teachers or make program improvements that were postponed a year ago.
