7/16/08

Suburban News

Khalila Perrin

Columbus City Schools leaders are one step closer to putting a combination operating levy and bond issue on the November ballot.

The school board last week unanimously approved legislation which allows the district to seek approval of the Ohio Department of Education on its proposed combination 7.85-mill operating levy and a $164 million, 24-year bond issue.

Once ODE approves it, and the Franklin County Auditor certifies the figures next month, the county elections board must approves the ballot language. Then the issue will appear before voters on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Passage of the levy means homeowners would pay $240 per $100,000 of property valuation each year in additional real estate taxes. Those funds are for ongoing general fund expenses.

The levy earmarks $58.6 million to help district students meet new Ohio Core standards; $3.9 million to establish four regional, theme-based schools in existing buildings and $12.3 million toward reducing class sizes in grades K-3.

It also uses $2.7 million to add to its security staff and perhaps bring back the PEAK in-school suspension program.

As for the bond, to pay for capital improvements, the district’s administration is promising “no millage.”

“The rate of taxation that taxpayers are paying for the bond portion for the Columbus schools will not go up,” said John Adams of Fifth-Third Bank. He serves as the district’s financial consultant on matters of debt service and debt issuance and debt financing.

A new bond would fund $123 million in school facilities construction, supply $8 million toward new laptop and desktop computers and $11 million for textbooks, plus $22 million for school bus replacements.

“Even though new debt is being added … the rate that (voters) are paying now is the rate they’ll be paying going forward,” said Adams.

“Now that’s different than the dollars of taxes, but the rate of taxation,” stays the same.

That “flat” millage rate is 3.9 mills, explained Adams, to cover all of the district’s current debt payments. Voters last passed a 2.96-mill bond issue in 2002.

If voters approve the bond issue, the district will continue to be allowed to collect up to that 3.9 mills. If they reject it, the millage rate would go down because state law forces tax rates down as an area’s property values climb.

The 3.9 mills is based on the auditor’s total appraised value of the district which is $9.85 billion for the 2009 collection year, according to figures provided by the Franklin County Auditor’s office.

The current average home value in the district is $110,876, according to the auditor’s office.

County Auditor Joe Testa announced in June that that there would be no increase in residential values for the 2008 “triennial update. The next appraisal update won’t occur until 2011.

“There’s no smoke and mirrors here. If (voters) don’t approve the new bonds, then the millage rate will go down,” said Adams.

“When we issued the old bonds, we issued so there is a declining debt service requirement each year going forward. That decline was there intentionally in case the voters say yes to additional bonds. We wanted to be able to structure the bonds so that everybody in future pays the same rate of taxation as the current taxpayers.”

Aug. 5, the board plans to pass a resolution of necessity to be filed with the Franklin County Auditor so that the auditor can certify the ballot figures.

Then the board must pass a resolution to proceed which will be voted upon Aug. 19 and sent to the Franklin County Board of Elections so the issue appears on the Nov. 4 ballot.