Proposed levy will provide funding for schools

Voters within the Wooster City School District will decide on a 1.75 mil permanent improvement levy for the purpose of providing funds for a five-year plan for repair and renovation of the district’s six properties. The levy would replace the 25-year, 5.3 mil high school bond levy expiring this year.

The owner of a $100,000 home would see a decrease in taxes of $101.05 annually for the duration of the levy, beginning in 2018.

The new permanent improvement levy is seeing its first appearance on the ballot on May 2 with community support generally running high, according to Hilary Carroll, chair of the all-volunteer Wooster Schools Alliance, which is a parent-led group working in support of the levy’s passage.

“In speaking with members of the community, response to the proposed levy has been very good," Carroll said. “The feedback we’ve been getting has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Carroll was careful to point out that the levy would be the only issue on the ballot for most of the precincts within the district. “This issue is going to be very important to the district, and we’re counting on a good turnout in support of its passage,” she said.

Early voting began April 3 and is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Wayne County Board of Elections, 200 Vancouver St., Wooster.

The school district said the school buildings within the district are in need of repair and general renovation including a new roof for the high school, which was constructed in 1994.

“Approaching 25 years, that’s about the lifetime of a roof,” Carroll said.

Other significant maintenance or repair projects at the school include work in the adult recreation center and swimming facility.

The five-year permanent improvement plan will take into account the rapidly changing nature of education and technology.

“Technology and the needs of our students and the school facilities are changing very fast," Carroll said. "In placing a five-year plan on the ballot, the school district is trying to be as fiscally responsible as possible. This will cover the district’s needs and protect our property investments for the five-year span, and then the district can re-evaluate those needs again in 2021.”

Elsewhere in the district, which serves 3,900 students in kindergarten through grade 12, the five-year plan includes detailed, year-by-year project implementation with repairs and renovation executed in stages for each of the six buildings. The district also maintains other supportive properties that provide the district’s transportation, support services and athletic facilities.

The proposed May 2 permanent improvement levy request would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $61.25 annually and will raise $1 million for each of the five years.

The levy is strictly for ongoing maintenance and renovation of the school’s properties. The school website says, “[It] does not include day-to-day operating expenses or maintenance costs that the district incurs annually but does include the major costs associated with the safe and efficient operations and renovations to maintain a positive educational environment for the students who we serve."

For full details of the projects planned with time schedules and individual project costs, visit www.woostercityschools.org.