Clark-Shawnee town hall today about school levy on Aug. 2 ballot

Jun. 23—Clark-Shawnee Local School District will host a town hall meeting today to answer questions about a school levy slated for the Aug. 2 ballot.

The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Springfield Twp. Government Center, 2777 Springfield-Xenia Road.

The Clark-Shawnee Board of Education has placed a substitute levy on the Aug. 2 ballot in hopes that voters will renew the district's two existing levies. This substitute levy will maintain current funding for the district by combining the two existing levies without adding new taxes for current residents, the school district said in a press release.

The substitute issue is a continuing 12.1 mill levy that would continue to generate $4.7 million annually for district operations. Because taxpayers are already paying on these existing levies, taxes will not increase as a result of approval of the substitute levy. The approval of the substitute levy does not increase the amount of local funding the district receives, according to the release.

The two existing levies are an emergency levy that voter first approved in 2012, and it generates about $2,463,333 million annually and another emergency levy first approved in 2014 that generates about $2,257,998 million per year.

Both levies are used for operating costs for the district, including materials, supplies, salaries, benefits, programs, classes and more, the school district said.

The substitute levy is different from a typical operating levy because it allows the district to capture new revenue from future growth in the district from new residential or business development.

This means that as new residents and companies move into the district, they will help fund the costs of educating kids in the community, the school district said.

This substitute levy accounts for $4.7 million per year in funding that helps pay for programs, classes, teachers, supplies, staff, materials, and more for Clark-Shawnee schools.