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The Westerville City School District Board of Education has placed a five-year, 6.71 mill emergency operating levy on the March 6, 2012, ballot. The request will appear as Issue 10. If approved, Issue 10 will raise $16,540,000 annually and would expire at the end of the 2017 calendar year unless renewed by voters. The levy, which does not contain an income tax component, would cost property owners an additional $205.49 per year per $100,000 of home value. It would allow the district to operate with a balanced budget through June 30, 2015.

District officials presently are developing the academic program that will be available during the 2012-13 school year and students soon will begin scheduling their courses for the next academic year. With an issue on the March ballot, officials can develop contingency plans to restore some of the budget reductions scheduled for the second semester of the 2012-13 school year in the event the levy passes.

Board members and district officials have made millions of dollars in  budget reductions and adjustments to the FY11-12 budget and must proceed with the approval of approximately $15 million more in budget reductions for Fiscal Year 2013. Approval of the levy would begin to generate new revenue for the district in January of 2013; the second semester of the 2012-13 school year begins January 3, 2013. The Board and administration recently completed a process to prioritize which budget reductions would be restored should voters approve the levy.

Westerville City Schools continues to provide an Excellent with Distinction education at one of the lowest costs per pupil in the county.
 

We are not alone in our efforts to fund a quality education for our community’s children. There are many districts across Ohio that are in fiscal caution, fiscal watch or fiscal emergency, as well as numerous districts with low funding balances or that are projecting a deficit (View Map).

School districts that are unable to secure adequate revenues and meet the state requirement of maintaining a balanced budget receive the designation of fiscal caution, fiscal watch or fiscal emergency. Information about these fiscal designations is available at the Auditor of State's web page. 

Please continue to visit this Levy Information site and the Budget Reduction site as information will be added and updated frequently.