August 11, 2011
District to seek income tax, property tax Nov. 8 Issue calls for 0.5 percent on earned income, 4.06-mill hike on real property By JENNIFER NESBITT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Voters in the Westerville City School District will be asked to approve both an income tax and a property tax on the Nov. 8 ballot. The Westerville Board of Education approved a levy request at its Aug. 8 meeting that takes advantage of a new option allowing districts to place a property tax and an income tax on the ballot
as one issue. The November election will be the first time that school districts will be able to combine an earned-income tax and a property tax as one ballot issue. The board is asking for approval of a 0.5-percent earned-income tax and a $10-million property tax equal to 4.06 mills, which would cost residents an additional $124.34 annually per $100,000 of assessed property value. The earned-income tax would apply
to income for all residents of the school district but would not apply to Social Security, retirement or investment income. Both of the taxes would be for a continuing period of time. The levy combination approved was one of five options considered by the board of education at the meeting. Members also discussed a 1-percent earnedincome tax, a 7.9-mill property tax, a levy combining a 0.75-percent income
tax and a $7.3-million property tax, and a levy combining a 0.75-percent earnedincome tax and a $5-million property tax. Board members said they liked the combination levy because it helped introduce a type of tax to make the district less reliant on property taxes while easing anticipated budget deficits. With an income-tax only, the district would have to wait 18 months before realizing the full collection of revenues,
meaning it would continue to see deficits in each year of its five-year financial forecast. “I like that this has a split — the opportunity to introduce an income tax to our community and the balance of the mills,” board member Cindy Crowe said. The combination also balances the burden on senior citizens and others on fixed incomes. See ON THE BALLOT, page A7
City to celebrate Main Street bridge reopening By JENNIFER NESBITT
food, said Westerville Mayor
ThisWeek Community Newspapers Kathy Cocuzzi, who has spear-
Westerville residents have been buzzing about the reopening of the Main Street bridge since Franklin County began reconstruction work last July. The bridge is set to reopen to traffic Aug. 19. Representatives from the city, Otterbein University, Franklin County, local organizations and businesses have organized a celebration of the bridge’s reopening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 18. There will be displays by local vendors, giveaways, a bounce house, live entertainment and free
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Secondary music curriculum coordinator Todd Stoll stands with former students: (front row, from left) Olivia Sergent, Alayna Johnson, Camie Barclay, Chelsey Sumner, Kayla Robinson, (back row) Lucas Taylor, Alyssa Jennings and Keira McKewen.
Stoll to head jazz studies at Lincoln Center By JENNIFER NESBITT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Westerville City Schools secondary music curriculum coordinator Todd Stoll soon will leave for the bright lights of New York City. Stoll, who has worked for the district for nearly 20 years, has been named director of jazz education for the Lincoln Center. “It’s kind of a big move for me,” he said. “It’s a huge honor. It’s the largest jazz organization like it in the world, with the largest pulpit for spreading understanding for not just jazz education but American cultural education.” Stoll began his career with Westerville City Schools in 1993, joining the district
as choir director. When jazz band became a part of the district’s curriculum three years later, he also began to teach those classes. In 2003, Stoll became an assistant band director, while still working with the jazz band and teaching some choir. He took over his current post in administration in 2005. At the same time he was working with young musicians in the Westerville schools, Stoll also helped found the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra. That group began as a program through the Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks and later was absorbed by the Jazz Arts Group of Columbus, under which it grew to have three different performance groups.
The Youth Jazz Orchestra attracts young musicians from across Ohio and has traveled internationally to perform. “It’s the cream of the crop for high school musicians who are into jazz,” Stoll said. Stoll has done some consulting work for the Lincoln Center and was recruited to his new position by Wynton Marsalis, artistic director for jazz at the center. In his new post at the Lincoln Center, Stoll will help create resources, programs and training for jazz education that can be used by teachers across the country. He also will look for partners in education to implement those programs and provide access to the information at the LinSee STOLL, page A6
headed the celebration. “It’s just all kinds of fun things. It’s kind of a carnival atmosphere,” she said. Cocuzzi said she can’t remember the city ever celebrating the completion of a construction project in such a big way, but she said the Main Street bridge project is unique because it cut off a major artery into Uptown and caused detours and traffic delays that affected many residents and businesses for several months. “We never had a project like See BRIDGE, page A2
Bridge to reopen to traffic Aug. 19 By JENNIFER NESBITT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Traffic will flow again along West Main Street between Cleveland Avenue and State Street starting Aug. 19. The contractor, Kokosing Construction, has spent the last 13 months rebuilding the bridge over Alum Creek and is scheduled to hand the project back over to Franklin County that day, Franklin County engineer Jim Pajk said. A time for the reopening has not yet been set, he said, but the roadway likely will reopen in the late afternoon or early evening. Pajk said after years of planning and more than a year of construction, the county is excited to
see the project near an end. “It is good. These projects, from the time that it starts to the time that it completes, depending on what funding’s available, sometimes these projects take six, seven, up to 10 years to see it from conception to completion,” Pajk said. “It is nice to see it get to the end. It’s been a lot of coordination.” The county first began talking about reconstructing the Main Street bridge over Alum Creek in 2003, Pajk said. The project gained momentum in 2004 and was in the planning and design stages by 2006, he said. The road closed and construcSee TRAFFIC, page A2
Hadler vows to fight referendum on Walmart By JENNIFER NESBITT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A group of Westerville residents opposed to The Hadler Cos.’plans to build a Walmart in the Westerville Square shopping center filed petitions last week for a referendum on a city council decision allowing that redevelopment. Westerville City Council on July 5 approved a major modification to the development plan for Westerville Square, at the northeast corner of South State Street and Schrock Road. The plans call for demolishing three storefronts in the center to make way for a 108,000-square-foot Walmart. On Aug. 4, residents opposing those plans filed 125 petitions with 2,330 signatures with city finance director Lee Ann Shortland. Valid
“
These people are attempting to gain control over our private property rights … and they’re trying to gain control over planning commission and city council.
GEORGE HADLER Hadler Cos. president
signatures from 1,679 registered Westerville voters are needed to place a referendum before voters. The petitions will be available for public inspection at City Hall, 21 S. State St., through Aug. 15. The city then will deliver the pe-
titions to the Franklin and Delaware county boards of elections for certification, Shortland said. Even if the petitions are certified, the referendum vote would not appear on the ballot until November 2012. Referendums are required to appear on general-election ballots, and after the 10-day holding period, the petitions will not be filed by the Aug. 10 deadline for the November election. The Hadler Cos. president George Hadler has vowed to fight the referendum attempt. “I’m very frustrated, having been at this for six years now and having made all the concessions that we’ve made, having gotten the approvals, having a group challenge us,” Hadler said. “We have See WALMART, page A7
Abandoned
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
These two Siberian huskies were found wandering around Westerville and are being housed at the Pet Palace, near the airport. Because the dogs had no collars, no identification chips and no one has come forward to claim them, animal-control officers in Westerville said they were likely dumped in the area by the owners. See story, page A3.