Millage on proposed levy reduced
By Jeff Gallatin
Bay Village
Published June 21, 2006

School officials’ philosophy of maintaining the district’s high program standards on an even financial keel will apparently lead to the district being able to put a smaller than originally anticipated operating levy proposal on the November ballot.

Superintendent Clint Keener and Treasurer John Cavalier said current financial projections show the district should be able put a 5.75-mill levy on the ballot in November. When the school board and district officials discussed possible levy options in early 2006, district financial projections showed a levy of about 6.75-mill would be more likely to maintain current district programs.

“Obviously, we’re very pleased with the new numbers,” Keener said. “It looks even better when you consider that prior to the 6.75-mills we talked about at the beginning of the year, we thought we would have to be looking at a figure closer to 7 mills, like 6.9 or 6.95 mills.”

Based on the current projections, a 5.75-mill levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $88.06 per half year and a $200,000 house would cost its owner $176.12 per half year. The levy would raise an estimated $2.54 million the first full year of collection.

Keener said the lower levy figure won’t lead to any new programs if the levy passes.

“We’re currently at 5.50 mills, and the projected figures for the new levy allow us to maintain our current levels of programs and services,” Keener said. “We have a strong level of services traditionally in the district, and that’s largely due to the support from the community because we keep sound fiscal policies which don’t go as high financially as many other districts. We trim expenses where we can and don’t add anything unless it’s necessary, like adding some special education aides.”

Keener cited figures such as Bay’s expenditure of $10,109 per pupil compared to the Cuyahoga County average of  $11,147, or the district’s average teacher salary of $54,378 compared to the county figure of $57,125.

“We have good programs in place, and this allows us to maintain them at reasonable financial levels,” he said.

He said the community also seems to value the sound fiscal policies and support the district, noting that the last two operating levies and a capital improvements levy all passed.

“It’s a residential district, and people know that they have to have a certain level of support to maintain good programs, but they also know we won’t seek what we don’t need,” he said.

Programs which also benefited district finances were the acceptance of retirement packages by district employees the last few years as well as the district’s getting workers to deal with administrators on containing health insurance costs.

“We’ve had employees who’ve accepted the retirement packages over the last couple of years and we’re starting to see the results of that in our financial figures and costs,”  Keener said.

Keener also said the willingness of employees to take on some of the health care costs has also helped.

“We’ve been fortunate that we’ve been able to work well with the employee bargaining units and that they have taken on some of the those issues because they affect everybody,” Keener said.

Cavalier said the school board and district administrators have done a good job of containing costs.

“That’s a big reason we’re able to project a lower levy figure,” Cavalier said.

He said everybody working together on dealing with costs helps the district put together budgets like the $25,327,413 one approved Monday night.