Saturday, January 16, 1999
City schools push for tax increase
BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati voters will likely be asked in May to approve a tax increase of $32 million to $37 million for city schools.
And while Cincinnati Public Schools leaders say they probably will need about $360 million more from voters in coming years to pay for building renovations, they're not sure when — or how — to ask for it.
District leaders met Friday to plot strategies to persuade the public that the 47,400-student district needs a new dose of taxpayer support to renovate and run its dilapidated schools.
With barely four months before the May primary, district leaders acknowledge they face a tight schedule in trying to persuade a public tired of taxes.
But with a new superintendent, an ambitious strategic plan, planned reforms and recent improvements in students' scores on state proficiency tests, they agreed they should act now.
Raising taxes would help erase the $30 million funding gap between the district's struggling neighborhood schools and popular magnet programs, Superintendent Steven Adamowski said.
Officials will meet again Tuesday and Wednesday to decide how much more — over the $32 million to 37 million estimate for operating expenses — they should seek for facility repairs.
The tax increase would strengthen Cincinnati's neighborhoods by strengthening its
schools, officials say.
“We're on the move, things are looking up, we need to strike when the iron's hot,” said Brewster Rhoads, a parent from Mount Washington who has headed the district's levy campaigns since the early 1990s.
About 60 percent of the district's general-fund operating budget is from local taxes, district Treasurer Richard Gardner said. The state supplies the rest.
Officials estimate it will cost at least $700 million to renovate the district's 79 schools.
A master plan released in November outlined recommendations for kindergarten-through-eighth- grade facilities and listed renovation costs at $600 million. A plan for the high schools is expected this spring.
If voters agree to pay for half of the needed renovations, district officials will ask the state for more money, draw on district reserves and use pledged money from city and Hamilton County leaders for the rest.
The city and county have pledged $200 million over 20 years from revenues from the new stadiums; adjusted for inflation, that's $120 million if the district borrows the money this summer to start repairs.
Besides building needs, the district also faces an operating deficit of up to $260.3 million within five years because of expensive reforms and its shaky reliance on local taxes, according to a state audit released in October.
If voters don't approve a tax increase in May, officials probably will need to prepare a 1999-00 budget that's $16 million to $20 million less than expected, Mr. Gardner said.
School board members also directed Mr. Gardner to investigate whether limiting district budget increases, including salaries, could shrink the size of the needed increase. Salaries account for 85 percent of the district's budget.
The deadline to place an issue on the May ballot is Feb. 18, Mr. Gardner said.
Tax discussions
• The Cincinnati Board of Education's equitable resources planning and development task force will meet to further discuss tax-levy options at 3 p.m. Tuesday at district headquarters, 2651 Burnet Ave., Corryville.
• The board's committee meetings will be 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at district headquarters, and a full board meeting will follow at 12:30 p.m. Board members will hear levy recommendations and a presentation from Citizens Active to Save Education.
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