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B1 Your Community Press newspaper serving College Hill, Finneytown, Forest Park, Greenhills, Mount Airy, Mount Healthy, North College Hill, Seven Hills, Springfield Township E-mail: hilltoppress@communitypress.com We d n e s d a y, F e b r u a r y
3, 2010
B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
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District looks at May levy
Volume 73 Number 1 © 2010 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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By Heidi Fallon hfallon@communitypress.com
Season changer
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Harry Beutel, from left, Jen Floyd, Michael Floyd and Pastor Mark Putman install crown molding in a New Orleans home. The volunteers went to New Orleans last year to help in the continued recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
Church on New Orleans mission
By Rob Dowdy rdowdy@communitypress.com
Round ’em up
While the earthquake in Haiti continues to dominate the news, a Pleasant Run church hasn’t turned its back on a natural disaster that damaged an American city in 2005. John Wesley United Methodist Church is sending a group of volunteers and church members to New Orleans Feb. 27 through March 6. This will be the church’s fifth mission trip to the hurricane-ravaged city. Church member Tom Richey is organizing the trip, which he says will mix hard work on wind- and water-damaged homes with short excursions to regional restaurants and tourist attractions. “I try to make the trip a fun trip,” he said. By going back to the same area each year, Richey said the church members are able to establish a connection with local residents. He said a resident they helped in the second year of the trip remains in contact with the church and a year after helping the woman, she invited the 13 volunteers to dinner as a kind gesture. “It’s her way of saying ‘thanks’ for fixing her
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house,” Richey said, adding the volunteers took her out to dinner the following year. Richey said New Orleans is still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and as long as work needs to be done and volunteers are willing to lend their time, John Wesley United Methodist Church will make its way down to the city.
Bus buy deemed ‘urgent necessity
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chase, the new buses would cost much more and wouldn’t be available until the end of the school year. With high school busing Lee reinstated with the current semester, he said the district needs the buses as soon as possible. “It was a money-saving move as well as being able to get the buses quickly,” Lee said. Winton Woods Business Manager Steve Matthews said the new emissions standards,
By Rob Dowdy rdowdy@communitypress.com
In an attempt to save money and avoid costly new emissions standards, Winton Woods City Schools Board of Education is bypassing the bidding process to purchase two new buses. During a recent meeting, the board voted to declare a case of urgent necessity and authorized the purchase of two school buses without advertisement. Winton Woods City Schools Board of Education President Jack Lee said if the district had decided to wait for the bidding process to finish before making the pur-
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Andy Shreve repairs the floor of a New Orleans home during John Wesley United Methodist Church's mission trip last year to the city.
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created by the Environmental Protection Agency and going into effect in the coming months, would increase the cost of the buses $8,000 to $9,000 apiece. Now buses cost about $73,950 each. He said the district has 41 buses in its fleet, and is supposed to replace three buses each year to avoid too much wear and tear. However, financial concerns have prevented that in recent years. “We haven’t bought buses in four years,” Matthews said. The two new buses will replace two 18-year-old buses, each with more than 200,000 miles.
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Roger Bacon boys basketball was trailing St. Xavier in a game early last month. But a three-point goal with about 30 seconds left won the game, and most likely turned the season around. – FULL STORY, A6
Declining revenues projected to result in a $1.2 million deficit in two years will mean an operating levy for the Finneytown Local School District. The school board voted Jan. 25 to take the first step in putting a 7.95-mill levy on the May ballot. Interim Superintendent Alan Robertson said the district is asking the Hamilton County Auditor to verify the mills needed to raise $1.7 million in additional funds annually. Voters approved the same amount in 2004. “We said then it would last three years and we’ve stretched it to six,” Robertson said, citing a number of budget cuts How much during that will it cost time. A 7.95-mill The district levy would cost closed Cotton- the owner of a wood Elemen- home with a tary School, cut $100,000 staff and out- market value an sourced its jani- estimated $235 in additional torial services. District Trea- property taxes. surer David Oliverio said state funding is decreasing and estimates Finneytown will lose “half a million dollars in the next five years.” Tangible personal property taxes also have dipped drastically going from $473,673 in 2007 to the $33,000 received this year, Oliverio said. The tangible personal property tax is levied on business equipment and inventory, Oliverio said. “We project getting $16,000 next year and then it stops completely, except for possible delinquent payments,” Oliverio said. The state, he said, is phasing out the tax and it will end completely in the 2011-12 school year. “We’ve been as fiscally responsible as we could be, but unfortunately with the way state funding is right now, we have to look to our community for additional funds,” said Laura Horn, school board vice president. A 7.95-mill levy would cost the owner of a home with a $100,000 market value an estimated $235 in additional property taxes, Oliverio said.