SHELBY – Shelby City Schools has a renewal levy on the ballot for the second time this year, meaning a second chance to help maintain school services without raising taxes.
The district’s ballot issue on the Nov. 8 election asks for a renewal of a 4.5 mills tax levy for five years, with emergency requirements. According to Superintendent Tim Tarvin, that works out to approximately 30 cents per day for homeowners in Shelby, based on Shelby’s average home value of $82,000.
“We’re not increasing taxes to get more money from people, we’re just trying to maintain the programs that we believe make Shelby an excellent school district,” Tarvin said. “It’s holding steady to what it’s been in previous years, maintaining and preserving what we have.”
The tax levy was first passed in 1987, and has been renewed every five years since its first passage. It has generated $950,000 every year since 1987, approximately five percent of the school district’s budget each year.
The levy has been particularly important to the district’s budget after cuts at the state level impacted the amount of funding for education, Tarvin said.
“Essentially, the state is giving school districts less,” Tarvin said. “They’re saying it’s up to the districts to figure out how to fund their schools. This renewal levy is our method of funding our schools because the state won’t do it.”
The renewal was initially defeated at the March 15 primary election, with 2,013 voting against the levy and 1,819 voting for the levy. Although it was defeated, Tarvin explained the levy is still considered a renewal and not a new tax.
“When that five years is ready to expire, you get multiple opportunities to pass a renewal levy within that window,” he explained. “You get the opportunity to put the same issue on the ballot and it stays the same. It’s still a zero tax increase.”
Tarvin acknowledged the district could have done a better job of communicating and campaigning the levy’s intent to the voters of Shelby, particularly emphasizing that the renewal means zero tax increases. However, other barriers still persist, like voters looking for an opportunity to cut taxes and keep money in their pockets.
The risk of cutting the tax is cutting services to Shelby City Schools. A five-percent cut to the district’s budget means putting jobs, services and programs for students at risk.
“Worst-case scenario, if it doesn’t pass you have to figure out some way to reduce your budget by five percent. And that unfortunately comes in the form of people, which then comes in the form of programs you can or can’t give kids,” Tarvin said.
Failure to pass the levy has already impacted some services in Shelby schools. Two preschool programs in Shelby buildings previously under the steward of Mid-Ohio and New Hope recently moved under the umbrella of Shelby City Schools; the expansion of those preschool programs has been put on hold, despite a waiting list of parents.
“We’re hopeful and optimistic that it will pass and we won’t have to have that difficult conversation,” Tarvin said. “But if we’re sitting here six months from now and we haven’t passed the levy, then we’re going to have some pretty serious conversations about where you can make cuts and limit them as much as possible so it doesn’t tremendously negative impact kids.”
Should the levy fail again, Shelby has two more chances to ask the voters to pass the levy as a renewal. In the past, Tarvin said school districts have mostly counted on renewal levies passing. Those days, he believes, are gone.
“Most school districts are going to have to conduct a more intensive campaign to communicate their message well enough that people will understand and support it,” he said. “We’re hopeful that we’ve done that – we’re not spending money frivolously, we’re not wasting tax money. It’s going to good programs and helping kids. So we’re hopeful.”
