OAK HARBOR (WTOL) - A local school district is facing millions of dollars in lost revenue, and now asking voters for help. This comes after the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant has been drastically devalued.
"No school in history in the state of Ohio has experienced this magnitude of loss," said Guy Parmigian, superintendent of Benton-Carroll-Salem School District.
The Benton-Carroll Salem school district is losing $6 million a year, in income after the devaluing of Davis-Besse. And along with the lowered property taxes from first energy, a 15-year long phase out of personal property taxes is impacting the district as well.
"We lose about $300,000 every year. So, We're in our third year of that phase out, and that phase out is compounding. So those two major hits are something we are trying to recapture," said Parmigian.
As a result, the district has decided to put two levies on the May ballot. One is a 3.89 mill property tax that would cost a homeowner $136 a year in a $100,000 home and a 1 percent earned income tax.
The two tax levies seem a bit drastic, but this community hasn't had to pay these kinds of taxes for their schools in decades.
"Since Davis-Besse moved in 40 years ago, our tax payers have had a great benefit of really being one of the lowest taxes in roughly the whole state of Ohio. There's only 10 other school districts in the state that pay lower than what our residence are currently paying," said Cajon Keeton, BCS Schools Treasurer.
If approved, both levies would generate $3.4 million a year for the district for five years.
This doesn't bridge the entire income gap, but it would make the district's budget a bit more manageable.
"It's really unprecedented, and our board really had no choice but to ask for this funding to be able to survive as a school district," said Parmigian. "It would really stabilize our operations and we want people to know that we are not looking to build a new building with this money, this is for operating expenses."
BCS Schools will be hosting community meetings on the two ballot issues on February 26th and March 22nd.
Anyone searching for more information can do so here.
