FINDLAY, Ohio — It might not have felt like it, but Tuesday was technically election day here in Ohio.
And voters said "no" to a vital levy for Findlay schools.
Findlay City Schools asked voters to approve a 5.9 mill operating levy Tuesday night. Preliminary numbers show 52% cast a ballot against the levy.
It would have charged an additional $17 a month to anyone who owns a $100,000 property and it would have raised $5 million a year for the district.
Findlay City Schools Superintendent Ed Kurt says the district hasn't received new money from the community since 2004, and if they don't pass a new operating levy will face a large deficit within four years.
The district has already filed cuts with the Ohio Board of Education on what elective programs and staffing could potentially be trimmed with this levy failing.
And Kurt says those cuts may be implemented going into the upcoming 2020-21 school year
While nearly 34% of registered voters cast a ballot in Hancock County, Kurt says he believes the levy could have passed had the primary election vote been held as usual, if not for the stay-at-home order.
"I'm very proud of our levy committee, our faculty and our staff for all of the work that we did. I believe in my heart if we would have been able to run through and have a normal vote, I think we would have had different results," Kurt said.
Kurt says he is confident that the Findlay City Schools board will begin the process of putting this levy on a special August ballot during their next board meeting.
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