LCCC places 10-year renewal levy on March 17 ballot

Lorain County voters will cast ballots March 17 on whether to support Lorain County Community College.

LCCC has placed a 10year renewal levy and a 2.30-mill on the March ballot, also called Issue 17.

The levy would cost $66.27 annually per $100,000 home valuation, according to the Lorain County Auditor’s Office.

The levy is an increase from the current 1.8 mill with an additional 0.5 mill.

That translates into an additional cost of $17.50 annually added to $48.77 annually for a $100,000 homeowner that residents currently are paying.

Tracy Green, vice president of strategic and institutional development at LCCC, said the 10-year cycle is an important one for the college.

“We have always been on a 10-year cycle, we never deviate from that,” Green said. “We never had a permanent levy; it’s really the philosophy of the board.

“Some feel 10 years is too long. We feel the 10 years gives enough time to make progress and make an impact. Then we can come back to the community and share what we have done and then make that decision looking out to the next 10 years.”

Green said things are changing so quickly, that the college really needs to have the fixed 10 years so it can really plan for that time period.

“It will never increase, it’s a fixed amount and having that in place allows us to be a little more prepared and plan out our 10-year period,” she said. “Also, I think it helps our residents to plan.

“It’s a renewal 1.8-mill with a 0.5-mill additional to that. It basically keeps what we have in place. It keeps the performance of Lorain County Community College and the track record we have had moving forward.”

Green said the additional request with the levy does consider looking at 10 years and how rapidly changing this economy is.

“The 10 years gives us the ability to add programs based on the changing job market,” she said. “The last 10 years has been incredible with the programs we’ve had to add.

“At the same time, we have taken some away. Because we have to sustain that. Being the community’s college, we are right at the table with employers whether that’s health care, manufacturing ... we need to know what changes are coming and what are the workforce gaps that are coming.”

Green said the college’s approach definitely pertains to the local job market.

“So, when we think about programs, we are always looking at the local job market,” she said. “We need to look at strong employment in this area, because 85 percent of our grads stay here.”