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Rural Urban Record - September 23, 2024
We welcome our community and alumni back to CHS for Homecoming 2024.  It will take place on Friday, October 4th.  The announcement of the court will begin at 6:30 pm.  The game will start at 7:00 pm vs. the Wellington Dukes.  The Homecoming dance is at 7:30 on Saturday, October 5th.   We would love to have you in attendance at the game to see our team, the mighty Raider Marching Band/Flag Corps, and Cheerleaders!  Go Raiders!!!!

There will be two upcoming events to learn more about the Bond Issue for additions and renovations to our buildings.  Sunday, September 29th at 1:00 pm at CHS in the gymnasium and Thursday, October 24th at 6:00 pm at CHS in the gymnasium.  Please stop in and learn about the project and have your questions answered.

On November 5th, CLSD will have a 2-mill RENEWAL PI levy, Issue #18, and a 4.88 Bond Issue, Issue #17, on the ballot.  To provide you with as much information as possible, I will highlight a different aspect of the bond issue in my articles, until the election.   This week, I will list the financing portion of the levy:

The cost of the project is $38.5 million dollars to be paid over 37 years.  A question was asked recently that I think applies to many people in regards to this proposed levy.   Question - There are two different types of levies, a fixed rate levy, and a fixed sum levy (bond).  Although the current issue may be a fixed sum levy, I am looking at the bigger picture.  With this huge value increase across the board, taxes are already significantly increasing.  Why is more money needed?  Answer - Based on the increased enrollment and the numerous services that students require, we are out of classroom space in our buildings.  In order to build new/renovate buildings, we need money now to pay for builders and materials, thus we need a loan for $38.5M.  No different than if one is to construct a new home.  The choice is either have all the cash needed at closing to start the project or take out a loan that will be paid back over time.  In order to issue a school district bond, which is a loan, we must have the constituents' voted approval to guarantee to the bond holders that the loan will be paid back.  CLSD, therefore, needs to have voters approve this and say "yes we agree to pay for this."  Then, the issuers and buyers of the bonds know the community has agreed and guaranteed that specific monies are set aside to pay for the debt.  This is why the proposed bond issue is over 37 years.  Just like a home mortgage, we could make it shorter, but then the payments go up.  CLSD will have to repay the $38.5M for construction, whether it is over 5 years or 37 years, the obligation to repay that amount is the same.

On the Lorain County Auditor's website, you can find the chart that outlines the total millage for all public entities in Lorain County.  CLSD is listed as having 55.746 mills.  This number represents the voted millage.  In other words, the amount of mills each levy was originally approved by our community (except for the bond issue from 2011 - it adjusts automatically every year according to what is left to be paid on the bonds).  For example, the bond issue was originally 1.85 mills and is now 1.13 mills and that number is included in the 55.746 figure.  Last year, the substitute levy was at 7.995, so it goes down year by year since it is a fixed sum levy and it gets adjusted every year.  CLSD's effective millage is currently at 31.843007 mills.  Every year the auditor adjusts the millage on the levies in accordance with the district's assessed values so they do not collect any more than they were originally passed for.   So, in short, as more homes are built, each taxpayer sees a reduction in their tax bill for our schools based on these levies.  Please see below for a listing of our levies, what they can be used for and their rates, their original millage rates and current millage rates.  

Types of School Levies our residents are currently paying:
General Fund Inside Mills:  Voted 5.1 mills, effective as of today 5.1 mills
Used for day-to-day operations of the district such as salaries, benefits, instructional materials/books, software, office supplies, transportation, utilities, maintenance
 
1976 Current Expense:  Voted millage = 30.2 mills, effective millage as of today = 10.493020 mills
Used for day-to-day operations of the district such as salaries, benefits, instructional materials/books, software, office supplies, transportation, utilities, maintenance
 
1980 Current Expense:  Voted millage = 4 mills, effective millage as of today = 1.800652 mills
Used for day-to-day operations of the district such as salaries, benefits, instructional materials/books, software, office supplies, transportation, utilities, maintenance
 
2010 Permanent Improvement:  Voted millage = 2 mills, effective millage as of today = 1.467556 mills
Cannot be used for salaries and benefits. It is used for capital improvements on our buildings such as roofs, parking lot maintenance, equipment, etc.
 
2011 Bond Issue:  Voted millage = 1.13 mills, effective millage as of today = 1.13 mills
Used to pay the bonds issued to build the addition of Copopa onto Columbia Middle School.  Cannot be used for anything else!
 
2013 Substitute   Voted millage = 7.816 mills, effective millage as of today = 7.816 mills
Used for day-to-day operations of the district such as salaries, benefits, instructional materials/books, software, office supplies, transportation, utilities, maintenance
 
2013 Current Expense:  Voted Millage = 5.5 mills, effective millage as of today = 4.035779
Used for day-to-day operations of the district such as salaries, benefits, instructional materials/books, software, office supplies, transportation, utilities, maintenance
 
Total Millage:  Voted = 55.746000 and Effective = 31.843007  "Effective mills is what you are paying for on your property taxes."  
 
For more information, please visit clsdraiders.org or citizensforschools.com  
Graig Bansek
Superintendent