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July 17,
2013
Luck
be a
levy, today!
Carla Surber
Editor:
Recent
events bring to mind Frank Sinatra singing his lyrical song “Luck be a
Lady
Tonight”. Luck is
nothing to depend on,
but when it comes your way, you can’t ignore it.
Greenville
School’s taxpayers can receive a bit of luck by keeping the 12.5%
property tax
rollback in Ohio’s new budget bill, but only if they pass the bond
issue.
Ohio’s
new
budget bill has penalties for homeowners on newly
passed issues in November and beyond.
Provisions
without
effective dates, like these penalties, become effective 90 days after
signature
by the Governor. This
is why the
Greenville School issue is not impacted.
So how does
this budget bill impact the only Darke County issue on August 6th? If the bond issue passes
in August, you will
still receive the 12.5% rollback on your taxes for the increase. The
numbers
printed in the brochures representing $174.26 increase on a home valued
at $
100,000 are accurate. The
range of $
2.10 to $2.60 per acre cost is still as advertised.
Taxpayers
will see no immediate change in tax bills for existing levies. New Levies (including
replacements) on the
ballot in November and after will now cost more money than before the
budget
bill. Passing the
Greenville Bond Issue now, on August 6th
will avoid the new
penalty. Passing
the Greenville Bond
Issue now, on August 6th, is our
only opportunity to keep this savings.
This
represents subtle shifting of the way taxes are assessed in Ohio. More of what the state
used to pay is being
pushed back on the locals. The
new
budget bill caps and eventually reduces the 1.3 billion dollars the
state
presently pays in rollbacks. As
old
levies drop off the books, these new obligations, voted on during
November 2013
and after, will decrease state expenditures.
How lucky are
the taxpayers of the district that they have the opportunity to save
their
12.5% rollback! The passage of this bond issue in August before the
effective
date of Gov. Kasich’s bill means that 12.5% reduction stays in place! Any new future levies will
not see this
benefit.
Frank, Old
Blue Eyes, can croon: “Hail to the spirit of old Greenville High…Hurrah
for the
Green and White!”
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