Sylvania board votes to put levy on ballot

7/13/2010

The Sylvania Board of Education Monday night unanimously passed the second of two resolutions necessary to place a 4.9-mill operating levy on the Nov. 2 ballot.

If approved by district voters, the tax is expected to boost the Sylvania City Schools' annual revenue by about $7.14 million, according to the resolution presented to the board.

The annual bill to the owner of a $100,000 house would be about $150, Superintendent of Schools Brad Rieger said.

Vicki Donovan-Lyle, who was absent from the July 1 meeting at which the school board requested the county auditor's certification for the proposal, said the current state budget situation leaves the local district no choice but to raise its own revenue to balance its budget.

"Regrettably, the state has put us in the position we find ourselves to be in," she said before joining the 5-0 vote.

The school board voted May 24 to eliminate the equivalent of 45 full-time jobs, including 23.5 teaching positions, to plug most of a $4.2 million gap in its 2010-11 budget. But administrators warned even then that a levy would need this fall to prevent even deeper cuts next year.