Eastwood, Genoa turn to voters to support schools

Officials at Eastwood Local Schools and Genoa Area Local Schools are asking voters to support renewal tax levies.

Eastwood has placed a five-year, one-percent earned income renewal tax levy on the ballot in order to fund the day-to-day operations of the district, which includes staffing, utilities, textbooks, and classroom supplies.

“It is really crucial to the operation of the district,” Eastwood treasurer/CFO Monica Leppelmeier said. “It funds the core of the district, it's 10 percent of our budget, and based on our current forecast, we are not running surpluses at this point. It is very vital for us to continue functioning.”

The levy was first approved by voters in 2006, and it would generate $2.5 million per year, or about 10 percent of the district’s annual operation budget. It’s simply a renewal. It doesn’t feature any new or increased money than what residents have paid in the past.

The levy also applies only to income received from work and does not impact social security, pensions, or unemployment compensation.

In Genoa, district treasurer Bill Nye said that a 4.3 mill property tax renewal levy is on the ballot for the third and final time.

“The repercussions (should it not pass) would be we would have to look at making some adjustments, whether it’s raising revenue another way or decreasing expenditures,” Nye said. “Expenditure reduction is more likely. In our district, 80 percent of our cost is personnel and programs. We’ve had initial discussions about that, and those will be further discussed depending on the outcome.”

If passed, it would generate $1.2 million for the district going forward. It would cost residents $12.58 per month per $100,000 home valuation, and it constitutes eight percent of the school’s overall budget.

Nye stressed that is a renewal levy.

“I can’t stress it anymore than this,” he said. “This is a renewal levy. It has been the last two times also. That was the confusion because on the ballot language as it notes substitute and not renewal. Substitute actually equals renewal. It is a renewal levy. It will not increase the taxes. It was first passed in 2015.”