FH Schools seeking additional levy

Issue estimated at 4.47 mills would raise $250,000 annually for five years

Fairport Harbor Schools is seeking passage of an additional tax levy in the March 17 Primary Election.

Ballot language for the issue states that the levy is “for the purpose of avoiding an operating deficit,” according to information on the Lake County Elections Board website.

The five-year, estimated 4.47-mill levy would generate $250,000 annually, and cost taxpayers $156.45 per $100,000 in property valuation, according to the Lake County Auditor’s Office.

“Our levy is for basic operating expenses,” said Fairport Superintendent Domenic Paolo.

“The need is based on an increase in operational costs, chiefly in the form of escalating health care costs, and a relatively flat state budget.”

In addition to rising health care costs, the district is spending more on growing needs in special education, district Treasurer Lew Galante said during a Dec. 5 School Board work session, according to minutes from that meeting.

Based on a five-year financial forecast for the district, Galante said increases in expenses will continue to exceed any growth in revenue.

During that same work session, Galante said that a projected deficit of $2 million in three to four years needed to be addressed as soon as possible, according to meeting minutes.

Even if the additional emergency levy is approved, the district will still need to reduce expenses to provide surety of balancing the budget, Galante said in a Feb. 14 interview. Should the levy fail, those reductions might have go deeper, he added.

As of Feb. 14, there were 2,106 registered voters in the school district who were eligible to decide the additional levy on the March 17 ballot.