Akron Public Schools' superintendent and chief financial officer said Monday they recommend the district put a combined bond issue and operating levy on the November ballot.
Although the Board of Education will still need to vote in the coming months to place a levy on the ballot and the exact amount may change, the current recommendation from the administration is to seek a 1.3-mill bond issue to rebuild North High School and a new 7.6-mill levy to fund operations. The two will be combined as a single request on the November 2024 ballot.
The district is in deficit spending (meaning its expenses are outpacing its revenues) and will have a negative cash balance by the 2028 fiscal year if a levy is not approved, said Stephen Thompson, the district's chief financial officer, during Monday's Board of Education finance meeting.
The district, like others across the country, is contending with rising costs and the end of pandemic relief. The district has already said it'll need to make $15 million in cuts this year to keep its expenses in line while it moves to get a levy approved.
Thompson noted that state law around collection of property taxes — House Bill 920, passed in 1976 — requires school districts' revenue coming in from tax levies not increase when property values increase. The revenue is frozen based on the value of properties at the time a levy passes. Akron last saw an operating levy approved in 2012.
"I can assure the community that we're being very fiscally tight," Thompson said. "We are running a very tight ship because we have to. But at the same time, we have to take care of our employees. We have to take care of our schools. We have to maintain our facilities."
The district has previously said it lacks the funds to rebuild North High School, where students and teachers have complained of mold, failing ceilings and other problems at the aging building, and would need to seek a bond issue to fund replacement of it.
Thompson said the 1.3-mill bond issue is based off an estimate of the project costing about $85 million.
