May 19, 2011
New Albany-Plain Local Schools
FRRC looks at salaries for future cuts By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Prior to last week, officials had talked about teachers’ salaries only as a large portion of the New Albany-Plain Local School District’s budget. But as of May 16, salaries were thrown in as another factor the district must consider when finding ways to cut spending and keep the district from asking voters for more money before 2013.
During the May 16 meeting of the district’s financial review and reporting committee (FRRC) to review the district’s five-year forecast, committee member Parag Patel said the district is no different than any other organization in that there is a certain amount of money it can spend. He said the district has talked about how salaries affect the budget cycle but officials have not talked about salaries as a way to cut expenditures.
According to the district, salaries and wage expenditures make up 80 percent of the $50-million budget. Potential revenue cuts are being caused by the anticipated decline of property values after the county auditor’s office finishes reappraisals; a loss in federal stimulus funding; the loss of the tangible personal-property tax, which is being phased out by the state; and a decline in basic state aid. When considering how to deal with
the projected $8 million in revenue shortfalls anticipated in fiscal years 2012 and 2013, several members of the committee asked if the entire district would be willing to sacrifice to keep programming in place and provide the best education possible for students with the projected revenue stream. Superintendent April Domine said the leadership team has spent the last three months working on ways to cut for next year and the team will continue to do
that. She also said the district’s entire staff is willing to work together. “I have no doubt that the entire staff has embraced that urgency,” Domine said. Patel asked if that feeling would stay the same if step increases were part of the cuts. Step increases are pay raises given to teachers based on years of service and level of education. They are negotiated in contracts and are paid in adSee FRRC, page A2
Planning commission tables two applications for vet clinic Neighboring residents express concerns about new use of horse barn, residential property By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Tim Norman/ThisWeek
Robin Larivey (left) and Lori Knapp glue students’ self-portraits to a large piece of black banner paper as students pass by on their way to lunch at the New Albany 2-5 building May 16. Larivey’s daughter, Allison, is in the fifth-grade and Knapp is a nanny for third-graders Katie and Julia Welte. The women were volunteering to help prepare for the New Albany Founders Day art show, which will take place during the annual Founders Day celebration Saturday, May 21. The banners will hang in the school hallways during the event and each student at the school will have one piece of artwork on display.
Weekend celebration
Founders Day a mix of old and new By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers The 36th annual New Albany Founders Day celebration will combine pieces of the past with some present day fun. The celebration of the founding of New Albany will be held Saturday, May 21, at the New Albany 2-5 building at 87 N. High St. The celebration kicks off at 11 a.m. with a parade routed from the New Albany Church of the Resurrection, south to Market Street, northeast on U.S. Route 62, to New AlbanyCondit Road and finally north to the school. At least one of New Albany’s pieces of the past will be debuted in the parade: a 100-yearold wooden wagon recently restored for the New Albany-Plain Township Historical Society. Mayor Nancy Ferguson said the wagon was donated to the society by John and Janis Bobb. It is small, only three feet wide, and will be
pulled by one horse. Local 4-H members will ride in it. The parade’s grand marshal is longtime resident Marge Bevelhymer and the emcee is Jym Ganahl, a local meteorologist. The winner of the Founders Day Community Connection Award is New Albany Special Connections, a nonprofit organization that works to better serve children with special needs. The Founders Day festivities will begin as soon as the parade concludes at noon. The celebration ends at 5 p.m. The elementary school and grounds will contain many displays, games, rides and food vendors, all celebrating the founding of the city in 1837. It was founded by Noble Landon and William Yantis. Historical society member Marilyn Saveson said the first Founders Day was organized by the society in 1976. The Founders Day
committee now organizes it and the historical society continues to participate. Stacey Adkins, who is on the Founders Day committee, said this year’s event has a “splash” theme, in which water will be incorporated in rides and games. A dunk tank will be included and there will be zones where people can shoot water at each other. In addition to rides, food and games, two new attractions have been added: animals from the Columbus Zoo and an interactive science exhibit from COSI. “We always try to do new and different things each year,” Adkins said. “We thought COSI and the zoo would be good things to add.” The animals and the science exhibit will be in the elementary gymnasium. See FOUNDERS DAY, page A6
Reappraisal process
Mingo: District’s property-tax revenue could fall By LORI WINCE He said the district’s 24.4-mill opThisWeek Community Newspapers erating levy passed in 2008 could be affected by the reappraisals. The New Albany-Plain Local “As (property) values continue to school board learned May 9 that the decline, you may not get the same reappraisal of properties by the amount of money,” he said. Franklin County auditor’s office Mingo said the reappraisal process could lower the district’s property- is conducted every six years. The autax revenue. ditor’s office is in the process of toAuditor Clarence Mingo, who is taling the final numbers, which will a New Albany resident, met with the provide a better estimate of how much school board at its May 9 workshop. property values could change. The
reappraisal process includes both residential and commercial properties. Levies collect money through property taxes. Because the 24.4mill levy was passed as an additional levy, not an emergency levy, it is affected by changes in property values. Mingo said House Bill 920, which went into effect in 1976, freezes rates for emergency property-tax levies, protecting homeowners from paying more than the ap-
proved amount of a levy as property-tax values increase. But, he said, it does not apply to additional levies. Mingo said the recent recession has made it hard for government officials to estimate how much property values will change, especially since property-tax values are declining rather than increasing, as they did in the past.
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See PLANNING COMMISSION, page A5
Landscaping company will set up shop in New Albany By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers New Albany City Council considered an income-tax break May 17 for The Brickman Group, which is relocating its Ohio operations to New Albany. Council was expected to vote on a resolution offering a 30-percent income-tax credit to the company for its move to 6530 W. Campus Oval. For results of the council meeting, visit www.ThisWeekNews.com. Estimates from the city’s community-development department indicate the city would colSee COUNCIL, page A5
See REAPPRAISALS, page A7
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It will be another month before New Albany Farms residents know whether a property on the south end of the subdivision is rezoned to allow a veterinary clinic on the site. The New Albany Planning Commission on May 16 tabled applications for a zoning change for the property and a conditional-use permit. The zoning change would consolidate two properties — one zoned for limited agricultural use and one that is residential — into one limited agricultural district. The conditional-use permit would allow the veterinary business to operate in what once was a private horse barn for a subdivision resident. Seven people spoke against both applications and Colleen Briscoe, city council’s liaison to the planning commission, asked if the zoning request would move forward without the conditional-use permit. Attorney Brian Zetts requested the application be tabled because he said he could not answer the question without talking to his client. The property is owned by New Albany Farms Bella Vista. Bella Vista is an equine veterinary service that hopes to establish a clinic on the site. The site in-
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