Elyria Schools to vote on sending emergency levy to ballot

Elyria Schools will vote on whether to place an emergency operating levy on the ballot this May, asking voters to approve new operating money for the first time in more than a decade. If approved by voters, the proposed ballot issue would implement a 10-year, 4.9-mill emergency levy that would raise $6,381,390 per year. The Elyria Board of Education will vote on whether to place the levy on the ballot during its first meeting of the year on Wednesday. "Obviously, we know it's a hardship for our families, but we know that education is important to everyone," Superintendent Ann Schloss said on Monday. "The reason we are going (to the voters) now is that we want to keep the millage down. The longer you wait, the more you need. We're also looking at things that we can cut within the district to make sure that we're doing everything we can as well, so the burden isn't just on the taxpayers." If approved, the measure will be the first time that the district has asked voters for new operating money since 2010. Voters approved an Elyria Schools ballot issue in 2016, but that raised money only for the construction of new school facilities, not daily operations. Schloss said that the normal levy cycle for school districts in Ohio is three to five years, meaning the average district asks voters for new money at least every five years. "That shows you how fiscally responsible we've been," she said. Elyria voters did renew two operating levies in March 2024, a 4.95-mill continuing levy and a 10-year, 12.85-mill emergency levy. Both levies passed with over 60 percent of the vote. The need for a new operating levy was outlined by district Treasurer Colleen Aholt when she gave her five-year financial forecast at a board meeting in November. Aholt said at that meeting that between rising costs, expected income stagnation and the expiration of COVID-era funding, the district probably will face a growing budget deficit over the next five years. She projected that without a new levy, the district would expend nearly its entire cash balance by 2029. Schloss said a new operating levy, in combination with the district cutting spending where possible, would limit that deficit. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.