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Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Northern Kenton County E-mail: kynews@communitypress.com
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Volume 14 Issue 46 © 2010 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
T h u r s d a y, S e p t e m b e r
9, 2010
Valie O’Brien, a 2006 graduate of Dixie Heights High School, will be arriving in Germany on Sept. 12 as a Fulbright Scholar to study molecular biology and pharmacogenetics with a wellknown researcher in the field. Fulbrights are prestigious awards for any scholar. O’Brien, though, said getting the opportunity to study overseas wasn’t that difficult. Her reasoning why it wasn’t is quite simple – her passion for the field. Read more about O’Brien. SCHOOLS, A4
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Visit NKY.com/community to find news, sports, photos, events and more from your community. You’ll find content from The Community Recorder, The Kentucky Enquirer and your neighbors. While you’re there, check out Share, and submit stories and photos of your own.
A taste returns
The Kenton County Library Foundation will sponsor their annual “Taste of Kenton County” again this year on Sept. 16. A primary fundraising event to support Kenton County’s three branch libraries, the Taste will have a new location, moving from the Covington branch to the Erlanger branch. Read more about this favorite library event. LIFE, B1
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City asking residents to ‘step up to the plate’ By Regan Coomer rcoomer@nky.com
Dixie grad scholar
RECORDER
Fort Wright passed the 20102011 property tax rate 5-1 at the Sept. 1 meeting. Council voted to take the compensating rate, which generates the same amount of revenue the city had the prior year. The 2010-2011 property tax rate is $2.19 per $1000 of assessed value, an actual 4 percent increase from last year’s $2.10 rate. The new tax rate should generate about $1 million for Fort Wright. Council opted out of taking an increase on top of the compensating rate, even though a comp rate plus 2 percent was budgeted for the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year. An extra 2 percent would have meant about $17,000.
“Everyone has a heightened awareness of our spending, more than ever before,” said Mayor Joe Nienaber of council. “I think we don’t need to worry about the $17,000.” Council Member Dave Hatter said taking a lower rate than budgeted was a good faith effort for residents, especially because the city is proposing a street tax on this year’s election ballot. “We’re asking others to step up to the plate for a fairly large increase on the street tax,” he said. “If the street tax doesn’t pass, we’re going to have to reevaluate everything we’re doing anyway.” The street tax is a must, city officials say, because the current annual spending on streets, $500,000, cannot continue without depleting reserves and putting the city $1.2 million over-budget
Tax meetings scheduled
Fort Wright has scheduled two informational public meetings about the proposed street tax residents will vote on this November. The meetings will be held at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Fort Wright Civic Club, 10 Bluegrass Avenue, and at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Lookout Heights Civic Club, 1661 Park Road. Council’s regular meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 6; City Administrator Gary Huff said residents are welcome to attend and ask questions there as well. If residents cannot attend a meeting, they can also call Huff at the city building, 859-331-1700. in five years. The street tax would mean an additional 10 cents per $100 of assessed value for each resident,
which would generate the half a million dollars need for annual street repair and maintenance. “One thing I’ve learned over eight or nine years being on council is that, in the end, a certain amount of money is needed to run the city. We’ve got to stop being afraid to ask for it,” Nienaber said. “It’s hard to go to people and say we need more money, especially at a time like this, but this group realizes we can’t keep kicking the can down the road.” Council Member Scott Wall voted against the property rate he felt council should take the additional 2 percent because the economic climate is so uncertain. “I dissented from that because we budgeted comp plus 2 and we should stay with that because it’s our road map. We’re talking pennies per resident,” he said.
Park Hills’ kids veggie garden a success By Regan Coomer rcoomer@nky.com
Vegetables got a little more popular in Park Hills this summer. Children not only planted, but tended, harvested and ate vegetables from the first-ever Children’s Vegetable Garden at Trolley Park. “Whenever I’m in the neighborhood kids come up to me and say ‘Have you seen my peppers?’” laughed Evelyn Stubbs, one of the garden’s organizers. “They’re excited about it, and that has been the best part of the whole thing, to see kids get pumped about their vegetables.” Stubbs and fellow organizer Jill Smith decided to start the children’s vegetable garden not only to teach kids about gardening, but also about how food is grown - it doesn’t just appear in a supermarket. “We’ve heard nothing but good things. Everyone really enjoyed it,” Stubbs said. “As far as we
FILE PHOTO
More than 25 children participated in the Park Hills Children’s Vegetable Garden over the summer. Organizers Jill Smith and Evelyn Stubbs hope to continue the program next year. Pictured, from left, are Mia Smith, Abby Stubbs and Corinne Smith. know the city’s never done a vegetable garden before. A lot of people thought it was pretty neat.” While the garden is winding down with harvest time approaching, throughout the summer 25
children and their parents were responsible for tending whatever veggie they’d chosen to grown. “Just about everyone said they want to do it again next year,” Stubbs said, adding that next
summer the garden size could be doubled. Like Stubbs, Nina Hafertepen, 11, was surprised so many children got excited about growing vegetables. “It was really neat because you know how kids don’t want to eat their vegetables sometimes,” said Hafertepen, who planted green peppers and broccoli with her little sister. Park Hills resident and mom Renee Miller said the children’s vegetable garden has been a “wonderful experience” for her family. “I think it’s a great activity for the summer and I think it’s so nice you can grow your own food period,” she said. Miller and her two children would stop by the garden at least twice a week to water their plants. “They loved picking the ripe vegetables, but I would say the adults enjoyed eating it more,” she laughed.
Kenton schools keeping tax rate status quo By Regan Coomer rcoomer@nky.com
Kenton County Schools’ property tax rate will remain the same at 55.7 cents per $100 of assessed value in the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year. The Kenton County Board of Education voted to take the staterecommended compensating tax rate in August. The compensating tax rate generates the same amount of revenue as the year before. Cities, boards and libraries are allowed by law to take an additional 4 percent on top of the compensating rate. The school property tax rate actually went down a little from
last year’s rate, 55.8 cents per $100 of assessed value, which means property assessments increased about less than 1 percent in Kenton County, said Kenton Schools Finance Director Kelley Gamble. The tax will generate about $40.5 million for the school district. “Our expenses this year were $2 million less than two years ago,” he said. “We’ve basically cut our outlay and that’s why we didn’t feel like we needed to take a full 4 percent this year.” The district had an additional cost savings of $2.9 million by reorganizing services, reducing administrative staff and furthering
energy efficiencies. Recently, the district refinanced the debt on the latest Dixie Heights High School renovation, saving $2 million, Gamble said. Without those cost savings over the last few years, Kenton County Schools wouldn’t have been able to only take a compensating rate in the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year without a “debilitating” effect on district finances. “If we hadn’t made those reductions we would have been spending a whole lot more money than we would be bringing in,” he said. While Gamble wasn’t sure if the district could continue foregoing additional taxes in the next
couple of years, he did say they’re “trying to hold the line in every department.” Kenton County Board of Education Chair Karen Collins said cost savings does not mean a loss in the quality of education in Kenton schools. “We are able to do this because we have been strategic about reducing costs and efficient in the management of our dollars,” Collins said. “But even with the cost reductions, I want the public to know that our mission of providing superior educational opportunities and graduating students prepared to compete in the global work market remains our clear focus.”
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