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ELIDA — When Elida voters head to the polls this November, they’ll be asked to vote on an item that hasn’t been on the ballot since 2005: a new school levy. Elida is asking for a 5-year, .75-percent earned income tax to generate funds that will allow the district to maintain current operations and avoid devastating cuts.
The district lost $1.6 million in funding in the latest state budget and must also contend with tax delinquencies and foreclosures, unfunded mandates and vouchers, losses in income from inflationary growth, interest and inventory tax.
“With inventory tax, we dropped $1.5 million to $250,000, so we lost $1.2 million there,” Treasurer Joel Parker said. “That’s good for businesses but not for schools who used to receive that money. We’ve been lean for a long time but now it’s really starting to pinch. We’re now at the bottom of the barrel with what we spend per pupil per year but we still manage to get a lot done with that money. We just hope to continue great programs, or what’s left of them.”
The decision to ask for an earned income tax instead of the traditional income tax is one the district hopes will be easiest on the taxpayers.