Thursday, November 04, 1999
Talawanda will ask another levy
Might be reworked without income tax
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
OXFORD — Voters in the Talawanda Schools are likely to see another ballot issue next year for construction of a high school and operating funds, but it might be packaged differently.
Voters on Tuesday soundly rejected a single ballot question that included a 5.84-mill bond issue and a 0.75 percent income tax. The vote was 64 percent to 36 percent. The money would have been used to build a high school, renovate buildings, increase teachers' salaries and keep the district solvent.
“We were stunned by the results,” said Superintendent Susan Cobb. “The need still exists. We'll re-examine the package to see if we can make it more palatable.”
Talawanda Board of Education President William Vollmer agreed.
“It would have been easier if the vote were closer,” Mr. Vollmer said. “We could have gone back with the same thing. We're going to have to have a lot of discussion on what we do next.”
Ms. Cobb said she believes voters were sending the board a clear message about the method chosen to raise money.
“This was the district's third try with an income tax,” Ms. Cobb said. “Two income taxes failed in the early '90s. The message each time is that this is not the way this community wants to fund its schools.”
Between now and the board's Nov. 15 meeting, Ms. Cobb said, she will work with the treasurer and others to prepare a new recommendation for the board to discuss. The deadline to put an issue on the March primary is Dec. 23.
The levy defeat means teachers' salaries will remain second-lowest among Butler County's nine public school districts, Ms. Cobb said.
The district still has a year to pass a money issue before an option expires on a 157-acre parcel on Millville-Oxford Road across from the College View Motel. The land was slated for the new high school.
Mr. Vollmer said the location of the school might have bothered some voters in the outlying townships who are still upset their elementary schools were closed in the 1980s and who might have voted more favorably had the location not been so close to Oxford.
“I thought it would be a rough ride to pass this on the first try,” Mr. Vollmer said. “It was the first time out and it was a big one. The income tax and location (of the high school) might have been difficult for people to accept. We've got to get people over the hurt” of closing elementary schools in Collinsville, Somerville and Reily Township.
School Treasurer James Rowan said he would have updated budget projections soon but thinks that, with careful planning, the district could get through this year and next year.
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