Medina superintendent explains levy details to council

MEDINA, Ohio – During a recent joint meeting of the Medina Board of Education and Medina City Council, superintendent Aaron Sable shared some details about Issue 16, the 7.5 mill, 10-year emergency operating levy that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.

"It is called an emergency levy because it is for a fixed amount of time," Sable said. "In 10 years, the residents will be asked to decide if they want to renew those monies."

Sable explained that the annual $14.4 million generated from the levy will not be used to expand or add new services, but will be used to pay the district's current operating expenses such as personnel, fuel for buses and utility costs.

If approved, the levy will cost the homeowner of a $100,000 property $263 per year, $22 per month or $5.48 per week.

"It is important to note that this is per the auditor's assessed value of the property which is generally a much smaller number than the sale price of the property," Sable said.

Sable also said that the district has not asked the community for new funding since 2013.

"We did have a levy in 2018 but that was a renewal, so we weren't asking the community for additional funds," he said. "In 2013 when we asked for additional funds, it was a time when we were in dire straits. Multiple levies had failed and we had to make massive reductions. The community decided that wasn't acceptable and expected more so we passed a five-year emergency levy and that allowed for services to return. But I want to point out that it took almost a decade to restore all of the services that had been reduced in just a year or two."

Sable said the district has made $4 million in permanent reductions for this school year. He said that if the levy is approved, it will save 71 personnel positions within the district, will maintain programs such as elective and advanced placement courses, will maintain neighborhood elementary schools and also high school bussing.

Sable encouraged members of council to visit medinabees.org to find out more information about the levy.

"Also, my door is always open," he said. "I have been spending a lot of time these last several months trying to get out into the community and answering questions."

"I think that was informative and clarified the importance of what we as elected officials are tasked with providing," Council President John Coyne said.

Coyne said that he sees why it is so important for entities such as the city and the school district to collaborate when it comes to services, especially when there is a possibility of saving money for both entities.