COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Voters in several central Ohio school districts decided Tuesday whether to approve property tax levies for projects ranging from building new schools to funding teachers’ salaries. In a near sweep, 10 of the 12 area school levies passed.
Levy proposals include the total amount of money requested as well as “mills” – the property tax unit of measurement representing one-tenth of a cent. For a house appraised at $200,000, 1 mill is equal to$200 in taxes.
Two major construction levies
Voters in Pickerington voted on a $83.93-million bond issue to fund the school district’s plans to keep up with rising enrollment. The district hoped to build a new 1,300-student junior high school and renovate Ridgeview Junior High School and Central and North high schools.
The 2.8-mill levy passed with over 57 percent of the vote, meaning Pickerington Local Schools will qualify for an additional $75 million from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to fund future projects.
In Worthington, residents voted in favor of two issues impacting the city’s school district.
A 1.9 mill combined bond issue and levy seeks $234 million to fund facilities projects, including reconstruction and renovation of two high schools and to address the district’s “ongoing needs” regarding school buses and facilities maintenance.
The general levy would cover the district’s “daily operations,” according to the district’s website.
Other levies in central Ohio school districts
- Delaware: 5.8-mill substitute tax levy to renew an existing levy that funds daily operations: 61.03% FOR
- Fairbanks: 6-mill substitute tax levy to fund employee salaries, classroom materials and general operations: 53.38% FOR
- Granville Exempted Village: 0.75% renewal income tax levy: 57.91% AGAINST
- Jefferson: 5.78-mill substitute tax levy to continue a decades-old levy that funds teacher salaries, extracurricular activities and operating costs: 56.01% FOR
- Lakewood (Licking County): 10.5-mill renewal levy to combine two existing levies into a 10-year emergency levy: 51.93% FOR
- Madison-Plains: 2.5-mill renewal tax levy for permanent improvements including updated technology, facilities repairs and textbook purchases: 51.91% FOR
- New Albany-Plain: 1.75-mill permanent improvements tax levy to fund general repairs and replacements of heating and cooling systems, campus infrastructure and school buses: 64.85% FOR
- Upper Arlington: 6.9-mill tax levy to cover daily operating costs: 53.62% FOR
- Walnut Township: .0175% renewal income tax levy: 51.55% AGAINST