Dublin school board to wait before seeking parcel tax
DUBLIN — School district trustees decided Monday to wait before putting a new parcel tax before voters even after a survey showed the tax might have enough voter support to pass.
Instead, the board will evaluate the results of the November election and wait until at least the spring before putting a parcel tax on the ballot. Trustees could have voted to place a $48 parcel tax before voters in November.
Survey results heard at a June 21 meeting showed that 35 percent of polled voters would definitely support a tax and another 30 percent said they probably would, putting the measure close to the two-thirds required for approval. The survey asked about amounts as high as $120 and as low as $48. The lower amount had the most support.
The district passed a five-year, $96 parcel tax in November 2008. That tax, which went into effect July 1, 2009, is expected to collect about $1.2 million per year, but the district faces further budget deficits because state funding has declined by about $2,000 per student over the past three years, said Superintendent Stephen Hanke. “We are very appreciative of the support the (community) provides,” Hanke said, “but what the community needs to know is that the state is underfunding public education. Things are going to be very difficult in 2011-12. We will be looking at another reduction.”
Earlier this year, trustees approved a $48 million budget for 2010-11 that includes $1.8 million in cuts. Hanke said the district was able to balance the budget without laying off teachers, but had to raise class sizes in kindergarten through third grade from a 22- or 23-to-1 student-teacher ratio to 25-to-1. Kindergarten and first grade had class sizes of 22-to-1 in the 2009-10 school year, while second and third grade had a 23-to-1 ratio.Hanke warned that the district’s outlook for the 2011-12 budget already includes a $5 million deficit. Part of the shortfall is credited to the loss of one-time money the district received and is using for the upcoming school year, including about $900,000 in federal stimulus money.
The new parcel tax would have run for three years and funded four areas: math, science, engineering; reading, writing, and verbal skills; attracting and retaining qualified teachers; and maintaining class-size limits.
“We will be facing a very difficult financial time in the 2011-12 year,” Hanke said. “The state is not funding public education. “… The deficit is a significant amount and the only way to make it up is locally.”
