Local News
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Fostoria voters squash school bond issueFOr THE review Times
A 2.76-mill, 28-year bond issue to pay for building and renovation projects for Fostoria Community Schools was soundly defeated Tuesday.
The vote was 2,695 votes against (76 percent) and 849 votes for (24 percent), according to unofficial results from election boards in Hancock, Seneca and Wood counties.
Vote totals by county were: Seneca, 1,600 against, 482 in favor; Hancock, 626 against, 182 in favor; and Wood, 469 against, 185 in favor. Vote totals include absentee ballots and are unofficial.
The tax would have generated about $8.4 million for construction of a new elementary school and renovations to the middle school.
The total project cost an estimated more than $22 million. The state would pay $13.7 million.
The ballot issue also included a 0.04-mill, 28-year issue to generate $122,081 for items at the middle school not funded by the state such as improvements to the heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems.
The ballot issue also included a separate half-mill, 23-year levy to generate $93,431 annually. The state requires the money for building maintenance on new schools.
The combined issue was for 3.3 mills. The three issues were decided in one vote.
"I think the board thought it was the right thing to do," Superintendent Cynthia Lemmerman said because 62 percent of the cost was being paid by the state.
She said the economic conditions in the city may have contributed to the defeat.
"I just feel our buildings have seen their (useful) life," she said.
"Our kids deserve what other kids have across the state," she said. "My frustration is for the city, too, because this would have brought construction (and other) jobs to the city."
The annual cost to a property owner with a $100,000 appraised residence would have been about $101, according to information from district Treasurer Jaime Golupski. That is about $10 less than last year's request. The figure includes the 10 percent and 2.5 percent state rollbacks, but does not include the homestead exemption on a portion of owner-occupied property for individuals at least 65 years old or disabled individuals.
The bond issue was less than last year's issue when voters defeated a 3.6-mill bond issue, to generate about $9.5 million, with 64 percent of the votes cast against the issue in November 2008. The issue included money for items which the Ohio School Facilities Commission would not fund.
The new building would have replaced three buildings: Field, built in 1908 with additions in 1939, 1946, 1955 and 1993; Longfellow, built in 1939 with additions in 1951 and 1960; and Riley, built in 1955.
If the bond issue was approved, the three elementary buildings and the Holmes Administration Office building would have been demolished or sold. Renovations to the middle school would have allowed fifth graders to move into the building.
It was the district's last chance to approve the bond issue at the current percentage amount, according to state guidelines. After November, the district would be dropped down the funding list, have to renegotiate the project and have to wait for state funds.
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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5 Comments
Latest comments listed first.so everyone stop your boo hooing over something stupid like this