7.8-mill TPS levy on ballot

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The Toledo Board of Education voted Tuesday night to place a 7.8-mill levy on the November ballot that would raise $21.6 million annually for a school district struggling to find long-term financial stability.

School officials say it'll be a tough sell to a voting public that crushed May's income tax request by a ratio of nearly 2-1.

"I understand there are a lot of people in need who don't have jobs," said Lisa Sobecki, vice president of the school board.

If approved, the new property tax would cost the owner of a $68,000 house - the average value in Toledo - about $162 annually. But the district also plans to let a school improvement levy expire this year, which would save that same homeowner about $27 a year, for a net added property tax of $135.

For the owner of a $100,000 house, the combination works out to an extra $199 a year.

The new-money levy would be the largest new to pass in the district, according to TPS records that go back to 1945.

Only four new-money levies in the 7-plus-mill range have been on the ballot since 1970, and none passed.

Board member Larry Sykes suggested the school system focus intently on finding revenue other than new taxes, but he ultimately supported the proposal in the unanimous 5-0 vote.

He was the lone vote at a board meeting last week against starting the levy process, saying then that he needed more information.

School officials say they need a levy to pass this calendar year, and November is the last chance. If voters approve it, the district can start collecting as of Jan. 1 and put money raised over the ensuing six months into a lock box to be put toward closing a projected $44 million budget deficit for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2011.

If it doesn't pass, the school board would have to wait at least a year to get another levy passed and money flowing in.

The levy campaign amounts to an electoral baptism by fire for Jerome Pecko, TPS' new superintendent as of Aug. 1.

Mr. Pecko, who signed his contract this week, is getting an early start. He was at the special meeting last night.

He said he was planning to be in a closed-door meeting later in the evening to discuss levy strategy with TPS Treasurer Dan Romano and board President Bob Vasquez.

Mr. Pecko said that even with passage of the levy, the district will have to find cuts to balance the 2011-12 budget. He said the likely place to look will be union concessions. Payroll makes up about 80 percent of the school system's operating budget, he pointed out.

"That's where it's going to have to come from," he said. "We're going to have to be fiscally conservative for several years in terms of how we fare at the table with negotiations."

The school board balanced the current fiscal year's operating budget that began July 1 by closing a $39 million deficit. The school board cut services and laid off about 400 employees, and the district's three main bargaining units agreed to pay more for health care and take 1 percent cuts in salary.

Every 1 percent across-the-board cut to union salaries raises about $1.8 million.

Some board members and school officials say they didn't do a good job of selling the May levy to the public and don't want to repeat the mistake. The May levy was an unorthodox income tax proposal that included several features and potentially was confusing to voters, they said.

Along those lines, Mr. Sykes suggested that the board give Mr. Pecko superintendent duties starting last night so he could jump in and build momentum for the levy.

Mr. Vasquez said that because only 10 days remain until Aug. 1, he would not support the idea. He also said that Mr. Pecko was already working on his own to learn the ropes, even though he wasn't officially on the payroll.

Contact Christopher D. Kirkpatrick at:

ckirkpatrick@theblade.com

or 419-724-6134.