PERRYSBURG, Ohio — With six weeks to go until Election Day, Perrysburg Schools will be asking voters to approve an incremental operating levy.
It's something district Superintendent Tom Hosler says is different from the last two 'no' votes at the polls, which were bond issues.
"This is money that is used for staff, to keep the lights on, to keep fuel in the buses, to buy buses," Hosler said. "The previous ballot issues were bond issues, so that was to build new buildings."
Perrysburg last passed an operating levy in 2019 and it expires in December. It annually collects $13.5 million from taxpayers for day-to-day operating expenses, which Hosler says is less than 20% of the district's $72 million yearly operating budget.
"It represents 17% of our operating budget, $13.5 million, so a no vote will certainly change the student experience," he added.
If approved, the levy would continue to collect $13.5 million in the first year, but then collect an additional $2 million each year after that until 2031.
So, what does that mean for taxpayers?
The district says taxpayers will pay $4.20 per month per $100,000 of appraised home value.
When voters head to the ballot, they will see that the Wood County Auditor is estimating that equals $341 for a $100,000 appraised home value in 2024, and then will balloon to $693 in 2031.
But Hosler says as Perrysburg continues to grow, people will save money.
"It (2019 operational levy passage) was going to grow by six mills over that five years; it grew less than two because as a growing district, as people move into the district, there are more people to pay and that keeps the cost down for everyone," he said.
Hosler says he knows there are those who are still voting no, so Tuesday night, he held a meeting at Hull Prairie Intermediate School to talk about the levy. No one attended the meeting, though.
But that's not stopping Hosler, with six weeks to go, from getting the word out.
"We're just going to continue to be here, so if two people show up, that's a good thing because we get a chance to talk to them about how important this is to our students," he said.