Residents spoke up at Claymont Board of Education’s Monday meeting asking members to rescind their decision of moving inside millage and causing property taxes to increase.
The board made the switch following an April public hearing where no one showed. The auditor’s office says changing the 4.2-mills from general to permanent improvement will cost a homeowner around $140 more yearly on a $100,000 home valuation.
Over two dozen community attended the latest meeting and among the five to speak, Mark Dooley was concerned over how the vote was done by just the board instead of going to the voters.
“A lot of people are upset. I think you need to rescind the order. Last week everyone got the reassessment of the property tax. You’re going to get a big raise anyway. The only other question I’ve got, and you might not answer it, what are you going to do with this extra money? Can anybody answer that?”
Mayor Greg DiDonato voiced his opinion, once again noting that there should have been more notifications and the district should have made the announcement more public by letting the community know why this switch is needed.
“I’ve never voted against a school levy. I love this community, but I think this is crap when someone passes a tax and does it basically silently and don’t have a plan or explanation for it.”
Board member Cyndy Host read a prepared statement noting they discussed the inside millage witch at their March meeting and followed legally required steps of posting a public hearing notice within the local newspaper. The public cannot hear the March meeting discussion due to an audio malfunction.
Host continued to note that the board did what was best for the district in the current fiscal climate.
“The state of Ohio has yet to fully fund our district under the fair school funding plan. This combination of funding uncertainty and rising operational costs underscores the importance of proactive responsible financial management.”
Meanwhile, an early proposal calls for closing the intermediate and middle school buildings and adding onto the high school campus to make it grades five through 12. The addon would be done through a loan which the superintendent previously said could be secured using permanent improvement funds.
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