BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — People in Bowling Green could be asked to vote on another school levy this November as the school district's superintendent says more money is needed to keep providing basic services.
According to the Bowling Green City Schools district, more than 70% of the budget expenses are increasing each year, outpacing revenues. This means the district will potentially run out of money in the next couple of years if leaders don't find another source of income, which could come from taxpayers.
Ted Haselman, BGCS superintendent, says it's been 14 years since new money for operating costs has been requested from taxpayers.
"The Board of Education is reviewing all the information regarding the dollars and cents and they'll be making a determination of what kind of levy, as well as the amount of the dollars that the school will need to continue to operate at our high standards," he said.
Haselman says the district is currently working with a 0.5% income tax which generates more than 4 million per year.
But, it's not enough to pay the bills, he said. so the district is thinking about options.
"We're not sure what percent, if it's an income tax, we're not sure what percent we'll be asking our community to support us with. those are things that we're still reviewing to determine," Haselman said.
"Bowling Green City Schools works really hard to be good stewards of the dollars that our community entrusts us with, and we will continue to do that into the future," he added.
As for what's next, the board of education will continue to review and analyze the numbers regarding how much additional funding is needed to continue to provide services.
Once that amount is determined, the board will move forward in the process of putting an item on the November ballot.