MADISON TOWNSHIP — Madison Local Schools Supt. Rob Peterson said the district will have to make almost $2 million in cuts ahead of next school year after residents voted down a combined property tax renewal on Tuesday.
The ballot measure would have merged a 6.9 mill levy and a 7.5 mill levy and renewed them for an additional five years.
The two levies generate a combined $4.78 million per year in operating funds for the district.
The renewal failed by 78 votes, with 50.49 percent of residents rejecting it, according to final, unofficial vote totals from the Richland County Board of Elections.
It would not have raised taxes.
Peterson said he was disappointed by the results.
“I think we work really hard to do a lot of things right in our district and to not have the support for a renewal levy is pretty frustrating,” he said.
“We have cut our expenditures. Last year alone we cut by over $3 million. We have only passed one levy for new operating funds in the district once over the last 34 years,” he added. “We try to be good stewards of the district funds and we’re a four star district on our report card.”
The two levies will still be collected through their current expiration dates at the end of 2027 and 2028, respectively.
While the school board may choose to put the issue back on the ballot, Peterson said the district can’t wait for the results of a May levy to begin financial planning for the 2027-2028 school year.
“This was really our only opportunity to avoid additional cost saving measures,” he said.
Peterson said district officials estimated in the spring that Madison would need to cut its budget by around $1.3 million if the levy failed. But a larger-than-expected enrollment drop reduced the school district’s state funding.
“We’re probably going to have to make $2 million in cuts prior to the 2027-2028 school year,” he said. “These cuts are just getting deeper and deeper in cutting the heart of our district.”
Peterson said he anticipates the school board will vote to put the levies back on the ballot.
“This is $4.7 million in funding and we can’t continue without it,” he said.
Peterson said that he’s grateful to the community members who voted in support of the levy and volunteered on the levy committee.
“Even in light of the levy not passing and the cuts that we’ll have to make, we will continue to work hard for our students and our families and provide them with the best education that can,” he said.
