09/19/2016 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council Monday, September 19, 2016 Page 6 recently, the Auditor of State has presented an award to the District for its fiscal stewardship. We are very proud of that. Mr. Snyder added, 49% said that they would be somewhat more likely to support the district knowing that in order to validate that response, we had to look at the other responses which are less likely and not sure. 53% strongly agree that cutting spending would hurt the quality of the programs. 76% said we do a good job spending tax resources. Top spending priorities - 84% said to avoid making cuts to current staffing levels. House Bi1164 and Senate Bi11208 in essence stripped out a subsidy from the State of Ohio because of tax reform from 2004 where they essentially eliminated taxes on businesses, specifically on inventory, equipment, furniture and furnishings to make Ohio more competitive, not only among our neighboring states but in the global economy. The State eliminated this tax for the competitive balance and also that the State was not a beneficiary or recipient of that tax so it was easy to give away. In exchange, they replaced a commercial activities tax. When it is all said and done, the State of Ohio will likely be the full beneficiary of that tax. Mr. Snyder further discussed the problems with the accelerated decline which have been managed through pay freezes, changes to health care and eliminating positions we believe to be not part of our core value system or mission. We can squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. It is unfortunate we have to try to fill this delta as well as trying to keep up with inflation. Had the reimbursement not been stripped out, we could have delayed this. Mr. Snyder explained the revenue, expense and cash balance and what happens when we receive a levy. With the elimination of State subsidy, our revenue remains the same. Meanwhile, we try to manage the growth of our expenses, but over time, we are ultimately going to have to negotiate increases with our staff. The cash balance gets consumed quite quickly. We are in a fight to compete with not only other public school districts, but private schools, charter schools. In closing, Dr. Kelly stated, the bottom line is this. We need this levy because one, we need to take care of our aging facilities. Two, we need.to be able to continue with the programming we already have for kids and three, we need to be able to adapt when we need to in order to provide kids with the education they need to be successful in their world. We have a great community and great schools. Thank you for the opportunity. We will be happy to take any questions you might have. Mr. Snyder added, it's Issue 115. The cost per $100,000 of fair market value is $240 a year or $20 a month. Council President Saponaro thanked Dr. Kelly and Mr. Snyder. I know there are questions people might have for you. If you don't mind maybe sticking around so people can talk with you. We need to carry on the business of our meeting. We appreciate you coming here and explaining everything. Hopefully you can send us a copy of this so we can put it on our website so we can provide information to people to take a look at it. Also include contact information. We appreciate your hard work and efforts. Dr. Kelly and Mr. Snyder thanked Council for giving them the time.