Foss returning as treasurer for Marlington

LEXINGTON TWP. − Robert Foss will return to Marlington Local School District in a job he left 14 years ago.

Foss will take over as treasurer with a contract due to begin in early December.

Currently, Foss, a Washington Township resident, is a fiscal consultant for the Ohio Department of Education.

"We had two finalists," Board of Education President Karen Humphries said. "I think the overall thought with him was his work with the Ohio Department of Education, helping school districts having financial issues."

Foss will succeed Patty Main who is resigning as the school system's treasurer. Foss' new contract with Marlington Local will expire July 31, 2025, and he will be paid an annual salary of $97,000.

As a financial consultant, Foss works with public school systems that are in state fiscal oversight. And the financial outlook for Marlington Local is beginning to look precarious.

"We are balancing our budget because we have money from COVID (funds from the American Rescue Plan Act)," Superintendent Dan Swisher said at a Board of Education meeting. "We are spending more than we bring in."

School system voters rejected a request this past May 3 to approve an additional 7.6-mill property tax that would have generated $4 million annually over a five-year period. Marlington Local voters will vote Nov. 8 on a request to renew an existing 8.5-mill levy that brings in $3.16 million a year.

"I will be able to provide some good information and hopefully keep the (school) district out of fiscal oversight," Foss said.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Foss returning as treasurer for Marlington