Here’s a rundown of new school tax proposals in the Valley, and what to know before you vote
New school tax levies are up to primary election voters in Canfield, Lowellville, Struthers, Cortland and Alliance.
Some are designed to replace funding lost from expired levies, but others are for new construction or for new operating revenue to keep academic programming.
You can use our levy calculator spreadsheet to get a more accurate estimate of how much each measure would cost you if it passes.
Canfield Local School District
(All Canfield city precincts; Boardman Township precincts 8 & 12; Beaver Township precinct 6; All Canfield Township precincts except part of precinct 3; Ellsworth Township)
- A 6.9-mill, 37-year bond issue generating $107.8 million for the construction, furnishing, equipping and renovating of school district buildings. The owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay $241.50 more each year; $8,935.50 over 37 years.
City and school officials in February announced the city intends to transfer 100 undeveloped acres of its Red Gate Farm property at Leffingwell and South Palmyra roads to the school district for an about 200,000-square-foot new complex for students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
The campus would replace the district’s 52- and 61-year-old elementary schools and its middle school, which will be 100 years old this year. In the future, the district may also consider building a new high school at the Red Gate site, “when the time is right,” officials said that month.
The funding would also cover renovations at the 56-year-old Canfield High School, including new roofing, HVAC and foundation improvements, said Superintendent Joe Knoll.
“This is possibly a once-in-a-lifetime shot where the Red Gate property is available and the city is willing to work with the school district,” he said during a February school board meeting. “And we are in desperate need. There’s some emergency. We have aging facilities and a time frame.”
Knoll said the proposed centralized campus is also an opportunity to remedy teacher-to-student ratios that have drawn recent criticism from district parents.
Lakeview Local School District
(All precincts in Bazetta Township (except part of Precinct G) and Cortland City (except part of Precinct A) and parts of Warren City Precinct 2G, Mecca Township Precinct A and Warren Township Precinct E)
- An additional 6.8-mill, 10-year levy generating $2,075,000 a year for emergency requirements. The owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay $238 more each year; $2,380 over 10 years.
District Treasurer Sean Miller said this new levy is the first new operating revenue the district has sought from voters in 12 years. The $2.075 million will help the district keep all its current academic programming, he said.
“Our funding from a tax standpoint has remained relatively flat since 2010, and along with that, our state funding has remained flat as well,” he told Mahoning Matters. “Right now, we’re essentially trying to run a school in the year 2022 on a 2010 budget.”
The district receives $11,703 in local, state and federal funding per student — the lowest amount among all other public school districts in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, Miller said. Since the state views Lakeview’s district as an affluent community, current school funding rules expect taxpayers to bear more cost, he said.
The district currently has three other emergency levies on the books, but they’re still generating the same amount as when they passed. They include: A 3.75-mill levy voters renewed in 2010, which generates $1.05 million each year; a 3.89-mill levy approved in 1999 that generates $890,000 per year; and its oldest levy brings in $613,000 per year.
The district’s annual budget is about $16.5 million.
Miller said the district has already started tightening spending, regardless of whether the levy passes. That includes non-renewal of some employees, expected next year. The district is also creating a retirement incentive to entice some teachers to retire early.
Lowellville Local School District
(All Lowellville Village precincts; part of Coitsville village Precinct 2; part of Poland Township Precinct 1)
- Additional 4-mill, five-year levy generating about $216,000 for permanent improvements. The owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay $140 more each year, $700 over five years.
The district intends for this 4-mill levy to cover revenue lost next year when the district stops collecting the taxes from bond issues passed in 1999, which expired at the end of last year. Those bonds were used to build the district’s K-12 campus, now a little over 20 years old, said Treasurer Bryan Schiraldi.
That means HVAC updates, windows, flooring, updates to its track, technology and security upgrades and new buses — anything with a useful life of five years or more. Like all other permanent improvement levies, the funding can’t be used for operational costs, like salaries or benefits.
The expired levies were for a slightly larger amount, Schiraldi said. Though this levy is technically a “new” tax, in the absence of the district’s expired bond levies, “it shouldn’t be an increase for taxpayers. At worst, it should stay the same,” he said.
Schiraldi said administrators have some priorities for the funding, but it will generally be used to cover “a range” of upcoming maintenance costs.
The district attempted to pass this 4-mill levy in the November 2021 general election, but that measure would have been a continuous levy, rather than a five-year levy. Taxpayers rejected it by just 40 votes; 53% were against it, while 47% were in favor.
“We surveyed the community to see what some of the concerns are. … That’s why we adjusted this one to a five-year term,” Schiraldi said.
If it fails again on May 3, Schiraldi said he expects administrators will “reconvene” and figure out next steps. Maintenance costs would cut into the district’s general fund, he said.
“We have a nice facility. We’re fortunate we passed those bond issues,” he said. “Now, we want to continue that investment and maintain a nice facility for all our students and our community as well.”
Struthers City School District
(All Struthers City precincts; Poland Township precincts 6 & 12 and part of Precinct 1; part of Coitsville Township Precinct 2)
- Additional 2.8-mill, five-year levy generating about $400,000 per year for permanent improvements. The owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay $98 more each year; $490 over five years.
This 2.8-mill levy is intended to replace a 2.3-mill bond levy voters approved to build the district’s high school and elementary school and renovate the middle school, according to the district’s website, and a 0.5-mill levy for a classroom maintenance fund. Voters approved both levies in 1999, and they’re set to expire this year.
The high school and elementary schools are now nearly 20 years old. The oldest section of the middle school was built in 1929. Additions came in 1955 and the 1990s, according to the district.
“The community has already made an investment in its school facilities. The PI levy allows this investment to be protected today and in the future,” reads the district’s presentation to voters during an informational session last month.
It lists more than a dozen potential uses for the funding, including:
- Replacement of the fieldhouse roof;
- Chiller and HVAC monitoring and potential upgrades across the district;
- Parking lot resurfacing at the middle school and junior and senior parking lots;
- Upgrades to the district’s bus fleet; new buses cost about $100,000 each.
A second community meeting about the levy is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in the Struthers High School cafeteria, 111 Euclid Ave.
Alliance City School District
(Precinct SMT 2)
- Additional 2.7-mill, continuous levy generating $842,201 per year for permanent improvements. The owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay $94.50 more each year, indefinitely.
As is the case with the Lowellville and Struthers issues, Alliance City Schools Treasurer Kirk Heath told Mahoning Matters though this 2.7-mill levy is technically a “new” tax, it’s actually intended to replace similarly sized bond levies approved in 1999, which are expiring this year. So taxpayers won’t see an increase, he said.
The bonds were used to build the Alliance Intermediate School, which consolidated the former Rock Hill and North Side elementary schools, and renovate Parkway Elementary, Alliance High School and the Alliance Early Learning School.
If passed, the new levy would continue funding maintenance and renovations at those buildings, Heath said.
“As a building ages … you’re looking at roofs and repairs like that, and also parking lots and concrete and sidewalks,” he said. “Those would all be big-ticket items, just like anybody’s house would be needing repairs.
“You don’t just forgo those. That actually would cost you more later.”
If the levy fails in the primary, Heath said administrators would likely try again in the November general election. If it’s ultimately unsuccessful, maintenance and renovation costs would then begin cutting into the district’s general fund, he said.
There are several other renewal levies for school districts on May 3 primary ballots in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. For more details on how and when to vote, candidates or other tax issues, see our voter guides for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties:
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
