BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer Contributor
BLUE ASH -- A group of residents that opposes a proposed $45 million bond issue said Monday there would be enough time to put together a smaller proposal on the February or May ballot.
The group, which calls itself Sycamore's Concern is Overzealous Facilities Financing, explained its views Monday at a meeting of about 30 people at Raffel's-The Legion Hall.
Co-founder Rick Friedman, of Blue Ash, said if voters reject the levy Nov. 3, then the three weeks between the election and the time the board must put something on the February ballot would be enough to come up with a compromise proposal with the Sycamore school board.
"I don't think we're that far apart," Mr. Friedman said. "There is a well-defined list of differences between the two plans. Both sides have points on the differences. There's no reason the two sides can't work out the differences and meet along the way."
But Jan Montague, who moved to Symmes Township in the Sycamore district from a neighboring district, said the $45 million levy must be passed because the needs are too great.
"Sooner or later, you have to pay for infrastructure," Ms. Montague said. "If we put it off another year or two, what do we do about the needs now?"
Residents will be voting on a 2.39-mill bond issue that would generate the $45 million for construction and improvements throughout the Sycamore Community School District.
Mr. Friedman's group favors a lower bond issue that would raise about $25.8 million -- a savings to taxpayers of around $19 million. Under the $45 million levy, the owner of a $100,000 home in the district would pay $73.19 a year in property taxes, compared with $42.29 under the smaller one.
But Jo Bakes, a Montgomery resident who is also president of the Maple Dale Elementary parent organization, said voters should trust the studies district officials hired professionals to conduct. "It's about $30 a year," Ms. Bakes said. "It's not something I want to quibble over. . . . If this levy is defeated, it will be 2001 before money is available."
District officials say the $45 million is needed to expand gymnasiums, cafeterias, media centers and classrooms to accommodate the district's increasing enrollment.
Sycamore residents also face a second school tax increase: a 5-mill operating levy to raise extra money for the district's daily expenses. Mr. Friedman's group is working only to defeat the bond issue and is not addressing the operating levy's merits.
