6.9-Mill Renewal Levy Headed to Nov. 5 Ballot

One year after Twinsburg voters approved a new tax levy, the school district will have a renewal levy on the ballot.

The school board voted 4-0 (Kate Cain-Criswell was absent) Wednesday to officially send a 6.9-mill renewal levy to the Nov. 5 ballot. It was the second of two resolutions that have to be passed for the information to be sent to the board of elections.

"This is the third prong of the operational change plan,"Superintendent Kathryn Powers said.

The levy is a renewal and will include no new taxes and secures the financial picture as it stands now, Powers added.

The 6.9-mill levy was last approved in 2007 and brings in about $4.4 million annually for the district. School officials say the district would have to make cuts and operational changes without that money.

If approved, the levy would be good for five years and would then need to be re-authorized by voters. The board members had originally intended to have the levy becoming continuing, thus not needing a future renewal vote, but they changed their mind after hearing feedback from the community.

The move comes after the board decided in March to withdraw the 6.9-mill renewal levy from the ballot in May because of confusion over the governor's education budget proposal, which at the time showed Twinsburg receiving a large increase in state funding.

The levy was originally scheduled for August, but board members didn't agree on the timeline.

Supporters of an August levy felt that if it failed, it would give the school board time to get it back on the November ballot. Dissenters believed the community might see that as deceptive.