Marysville Exempted Village schools warn May 6 levy needed to avoid staff, program cuts after preschool costs shift

Marysville Exempted Village Superintendent Diane Allen and district staff told residents the district faces a sustained budget shortfall and is asking voters to approve a 5.5-mill emergency operating levy on May 6 to avoid further cuts to staff and student programs.

The levy, the district says, is projected in its forecast to generate about $6,800,000 annually and would offset an average annual deficit the district estimates at roughly $9,000,000. "We're asking the community to consider a 5.5-mill emergency operating levy on Tuesday, May 6," Diane Allen, superintendent, said. "That would generate for us $6,800,000 annually in our forecast."

Why it matters: the district told the meeting the shortfall results from the long-term phase-out of tangible personal property (TPP) funding, a low local revenue base relative to other Ohio districts, a possible reduction in state support under the next biennial budget and a recently announced transfer of preschool costs from the Union County Board of Developmental Disabilities to the school district.

District staff said TPP funding peaked in about 2005 at more than $9,000,000 a year and has been phased out; this school year will be the last to include a small remaining TPP payment (the district estimated roughly $450,000). A district staff member identified as Todd described the projected impact of the governor’s initial biennial proposal, saying the district could lose more than $200,000 per year under that proposal compared with an earlier forecast that assumed $250,000 per year in increases.

The…