DELPHOS — The need for Delphos schools hasn’t changed, and the district’s request for help from residents hasn’t either.
The school board has decided to place a continuing, 1 percent earned income tax on the November ballot. The same request failed by 55 percent last month. A property tax levy went down last November.
“It is what we need to operate,” Superintendent Jeff Price said Friday. “It is going to keep us going long term. It is a long-term fix, and that is part of our strategic plan, to keep long-term economic stability.”
The levy would raise $1.5 million a year for the district. Like last time, a yes vote would allow the district to drop two existing property taxes.
The district is expected to have $200,000, or 2 percent of its budget, in carryover money when it closes its books at the end of the month. It will spend $72,000 more than it gets in revenue next year, and $344,000 the following year.
A list of cuts, both those that will come regardless of the November levy and those that will be needed if it fails, will be released in August, Price said. They won’t be the first cuts. The district spent $270,000 less this year than last year.
School officials will continue to try to educate residents about the levy. Those discussions will keep coming back to need, Price said.
“I think we have come back to the need that we have for the programming, just to maintain the programming,” he said. “This isn’t any frills. It is just to maintain current programming”
It is possible that the district could use funds to bring back some previous reductions. No decisions have been made, but cuts made include to the music department and the middle school computer program.
“We’ll take a look at certainly putting that kind of stuff back into the curriculum so that we are giving our students the best chance to succeed,” he said.
An earned income tax only taxes those drawing a paycheck. Things like pensions, interest, dividends, capital gains, disability and worker’s compensation are not taxed.
