Consolidation could save Ledgemont homeowners $365 per year per $100,000 of home value
“It doesn’t make any sense to not think hard about consolidation.” – Geauga County Auditor Frank Gliha
A special, informational presentation Wednesday at Huntsburg Community Center went from data to drama in half an hour.
The purpose of the meeting — for Geauga County Auditor Frank Gliha to explain the likely tax repercussions if Cardinal and Ledgemont school districts consolidate — shifted to concerns about academic, social and cultural consequences of a merger.
The audience of about 50 residents, school board members and school administrators listened politely while Gliha compared the two districts’ fiscal expectations with and without the proposed transfer of territory that both school boards have been considering.
During his presentation, Gliha was clear he believes the territory transfer is best for all parties.
“It doesn’t make any sense to not think hard about consolidation,” he said. “This is a chance for us to look at each other and say, ‘This is the best possible thing for our children.’”
Gliha said a territory transfer would benefit residents’ children and grandchildren in the future. If the schools did not combine, Ledgemont would still have to pay its more than $2 million loan back to the state.
He urged the crowd to consider the effect on the students’ educations, if the district were to combine.
“How do we get to the point where there are electives?” he asked, referring to high school curriculum.
Ledgemont Schools, which has fewer than 400 students enrolled, is in fiscal emergency. It has borrowed about $2.3 million from the state and its voters repeatedly have failed to pass levies to return the district to the black.
An additional 4.49-mill levy on Tuesday’s ballot would, if passed, provide the district with funds to pay off the loan, over time, and continue to operate.
However, it would not give the district any extra money to restore programs that had been cut over the last few years, administrators have said.
Renewal of a 1.25-percent earned income tax is also on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Recent state legislation would allow forgiveness of Ledgemont’s debt, but only if the district combines with a fiscally sound, neighboring district. Gliha said the transfer would have to be completed by June 30, 2015, or the opportunity would evaporate, per the legislation.
He provided estimates on paper that showed the current status of school tax collection in each district and what property owners would have to pay, based on 2013 tax year, if the transfer of territory were to take place.
Taxpayers in the 1,200-student Cardinal school district currently pay $822.05 per year in property taxes per $100,000 of home value, Gliha said. Property owners in the Ledgemont district currently pay $691.40 per year per $100,000 of home value — or $130.66 less than Cardinal homeowners, according to a four-page handout distributed at the meeting.
Ledgemont also collected about $989,077 in earned income tax, according to the data. To generate that amount of revenue in property taxes would amount to around 9.66 mills, or roughly $338.15 per $100,000 of property value.
With that amount added to the property tax, the owner of a $100,000 home in Ledgemont pays around $1,030 per year, or about $207 more than an equal property in the Cardinal school district.
If the Ledgemont school levy passes and the earned income tax is renewed, the owner of a $100,000 home in Ledgemont district would pay $157.15 in addition to the $1,030 he or she pays now.
That same owner would pay $822.05 per year per $100,000 of home value in a consolidated district, a savings of almost $365 per $100,000 of home value.
Joining the Cardinal district also would save the cost of the more expensive technical schools education some students in Ledgemont now pursue. They attend Ashtabula County Technical and Career Center for which Ledgemont taxpayers ante up 4.11 mills.
Cardinal students attend Auburn Career Center, which receives funding from Geauga and Lake county schools through a 1.5 mill levy. The difference would save Ledgemont property owners money if the territory transfer takes place.
In addition, students from Thompson and Montville townships would have more opportunities in the classroom and more extracurricular activities at Cardinal, Gliha said.
During the question and answer period, Ledgemont Superintendent Julie Ramos said there have been conversations with Chardon Schools, but the board was not interested in partnering with Ledgemont.
Madison Schools was interested in merging with Ledgemont, but was unwilling to keep the Burrows Road elementary school open for grade K-6, she added.
Cardinal Schools board and administration are willing to keep Ledgemont elementary school open indefinitely, Ramos said.
Also, Cardinal and Ledgemont have a history of working together for funding, special education and transportation solutions, Ramos said.
Cardinal Superintendent Scott Hunt said the district treasurer has provided board members with a forecast showing the combined districts would be firmly in the black until 2018, with only a levy on the ballot in 2017.
Ledgemon’ts earned income tax would go away.
Discussion on merging the districts began this year when debt forgiveness became a legal possibility, he said. Depending on how the numbers work out, the combined district might find itself with a $250,000 cushion, he said.
Several residents said there would be many students, especially in northern Thompson Township, who would open enroll in Madison. While Cardinal would have to pay Madison $5,700 for each student who opts to open enroll elsewhere, Hunt said he could not make projections based on that possibility.
Other residents called for putting the consolidation issue on the ballot so residents in the Ledgemont and Cardinal districts could make the decision. By using the transfer of territories process, Hunt said, it is up to the school boards to request the Geauga County Educational Service Center initiate the transfer.
“On Nov. 5, I will recommend to the (Cardinal) board to accept the transfer of territory,” Hunt said, adding the transfer would ensure students from Montville and Thompson have an opportunity to receive a quality education.
