May 22, 2011
School board OKs November levy By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Delaware residents in November will vote on an emergency operating levy for Delaware City Schools. Board members on May 16 unanimously agreed to place a five-year levy on the ballot. If approved, it would raise $6 million per year. Those funds, along
with savings from personnel cuts, would be used to prevent a $25.7-million deficit for fiscal year 2015. Superintendent Paul Craft told ThisWeek that county auditor George Kaitsa will calculate the levy’s millage within the George Kaitsa
next couple of weeks. The November election filing deadline is in August. Craft said he expects the millage to be 8.3 to 8.6. The exact amount will depend on property valuation in the district, which Kaitsa will review this year. School officials cited large cuts in state aid, combined with growing enrollment and inflation, as reasons for the district’s growing budget problems.
The district estimates about a 13-percent cut in state funding. Another factor is that the district’s state subsidy for the former personal property tax, paid by businesses, is ending more quickly than had been expected. The district received a $3.5-million subsidy payment for the current fiscal year. That subsidy will disappear in fiscal year 2015.
Craft said the district will make a total of $1.4 million to $2.4 million in spending cuts, which will carry over annually over the next four years. Craft said he wants to reduce the projected deficit to $20 million or lower. The remaining deficit would be addressed with the requested operating levy. See SCHOOL BOARD, page A6
BST&G discusses possible fire levy increase
ARTS FESTIVAL
By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Aaron Moore holds his 5-year-old daughter, Alayna, as she touches a hanging decoration while her mother, Angela, watches at the Delaware Arts Festival in downtown Delaware on May 14. Moore said they buy artwork at the festival each year. For more photos, see page A2.
Big Walnut hears about fiscal future By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A closer look
The Big Walnut school district is projected to stay in the black through school year 2012-13, officials said. Treasurer Felicia Drummey reviewed that information as part of the five-year forecast of the operating fund during the May 9 school board meeting. School districts are required by the Ohio Department of Education to submit five-year forecasts twice each school year. The forecasts are submitted for board approval in October and May each school year and sent to ODE. School fiscal years begin on July 1 and end the following June 30. The report projects revenues and expenses through fiscal year 2015, but Drummey said the fourth and
Revenue is projected to increase about 3.7 percent over five years, treasurer Felicia Drummey said. Some revenues, such as state funding, are decreasing, while others, such as property taxes, are increasing. Expenses are estimated to grow about $1 million per year, the forecast shows, about 7.47 percent over the five years. Operating expenses include personnel wages and benefits, purchased services such as legal fees, staff development, tuition paid to charter schools and special education contract services, and supplies for instructional use.
fifth years of a forecast are less reliable because the fluctuation in revenues and expenses is difficult to pin down that far in the future. “The forecast is a management tool that school administrators use to help paint a picture of the future based on our activity today,” Drummey said. “We look at historical trends
in order to adjust for future fluctuations.” Given the poor economy, anticipated cuts in state funding to the district and a projected 5- to 10-percent decrease in property values, “this is probably the most difficult time to try to project those (numbers) because we are in a volatile point in
history,” Drummey said. From the current fiscal year, 2011, through fiscal year 2014, the district is estimated to receive about $28 million from such sources as property and income tax, and state and federal funding. That amount includes the levy that voters approved in November 2010, which brings in $4.9 million annually. Revenue is projected to increase about 3.7 percent over five years, Drummey said. Some revenues, such as state funding, are decreasing, while others, such as property taxes, are increasing. Expenses are estimated to grow about $1 million per year, the forecast shows, about 7.47 percent over the five years. Operating expenses include personnel wages and benefits, See BIG WALNUT, page A6
For 20 years, the BST&G Fire Department has been operating with the same levy millage, but it might be time for a change. The department’s 2-mill, five-year operating levy will expire in May 2012. Fire Chief Mark Almendinger said the BST&G board is discussing how to proceed with a levy request. “It would probably be a new one,” Almendinger said, saying that the levy’s millage hasn’t been determined yet. The board has discussed a two-year and a five-year levy. Almendinger said his recommendation would probably be for a five-year levy. Almendinger said the current levy no longer meets the need, and that it’s becoming challenging to get the resources required to meet demand. As the surrounding commercial and residential development has increased, so has the fire department’s activity. BST&G had been averaging about 200 runs per year. Within the last four to five years, the number of runs has been increasing yearly by about 100 runs. Last year, BST&G made more than 900 total runs. “A volunteer environment on 900 runs doesn’t work,” Almendinger said. BST&G became a part-time paid fire department 16 months ago and employs 36 part-time firefighters along with Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Wilson, who is full time. The station is staffed 24 hours a day and serves 51 square miles and a six-mile stretch on Interstate 71 near state Route 36. Three firefighters are on duty at any time, and all firefighters are always on call. If paged, they determine whether they can come in to provide additional support. Almendinger said he wants to use new levy funds to move three firefighters from part-time to fulltime status. The three-person shift would then be staffed by one full-time person and two part-time people. Part-time employees can work a maximum of 1,550 hours per year; on average they work about 24 hours per week. Offering full-time pay to employees would help the fire department “attract and maintain those topSee BST&G DISCUSSES, page A4
Delaware County sewer plant costs increase By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Lower Scioto Water Reclamation Facility is nearly complete, but construction modifications continue to drive up the original contract price. The sewage treatment plant is being built on 40 acres east and west of U.S. Route 42, and along Moore and Dublin roads in Concord Township. Delaware County commissioners on May 16 approved a $717,000 change order for the project, which will pay for modifications to a sewer line that will
feed into the facility. The sewer line, 36 inches in diameter, initially was planned to run toward Dublin Road in an east to west direction at a length of 150 feet. While the line will still exit the plant at the same location, it will instead run north to south for 400 feet. The new location puts the sewer line behind residences, making it less intrusive and in a location viable for future development, said environmental services director Tiffany Jenkins. The change order puts the construction cost at $23,336,655. The original contract was $21,986,625.
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This is one of those issues that I don’t like but that I’ll probably have to vote for. It would have been better if the original plan had been implemented on the scheduled timeline.
KEN O’BRIEN — Delaware County commissioner
The Concord-Scioto Community Authority and county sewer funds will pay for the project. “This is one of those issues that I don’t like but that I’ll probably have to vote for,” commissioner Ken O’Brien said during the
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meeting. “It would have been better if the original plan had been implemented on the scheduled timeline,” O’Brien told ThisWeek, saying that the cost is higher than he thinks it should be. Still, he said,
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the sewer line’s new location will be slightly more useful. The plant initially will have the capacity to accept and treat 1.4 million gallons of wastewater per day from residences in a 1,000-acre area bounded by Duffy Road to the south, U.S. 42 to the north, the Union County line to the west, and state Route 745 to the east. Plant construction started in 2008, and was planned to be completed by September 2009. Jenkins, who has served as director since June 2010, said various construction issues have postponed the date. The plant is now about
95 percent complete. Kokosing Construction, with headquarters in Fredericktown, is the contractor. Jenkins said the project has experienced some weather delays. “We have also been working through other construction and design issues that are typical on projects of this magnitude and complexity,” she said. Jenkins said she thinks the sewer project was implemented when a large residential development was proposed. The development has since been canSee DELAWARE, page A5
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