Top 10 Reasons to Vote No Again!!
TOP 10 REASONS TO VOTE NO AGAIN!
DO NOT SIT THIS ELECTION OUT! IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU GET OUT AND VOTE!
In the May 2014 levy, a mere 18% of the community caused property taxes to increase for everybody! Don’t let this happen again! The Board put this levy vote in May intentionally, hoping that voter’s unawareness or fatigue will increase the chances of the levy passing. Please make your voice heard.
The estimated cost of this special election is $50,000+ of taxpayer money. Waiting until November or even next year would have saved money and given the Board bargaining power with the union.
Permanent taxes are forever! They eliminate the need for financial accountability. As long as more money keeps pouring in, the spending goes up and up without the need to budget. Loveland schools have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
Millage can be confusing. 4.9 mills seems lower than the 6.95 mill levy of 2020 but home values increased after that election. A single mill now generates $1,000,612 million in tax revenue whereas a single mill in 2020 generated only $886,943 in tax revenue and a single mill in November 2022 generated $977,159 in tax revenue. On a per mill basis this levy is 12.8% higher than the 6.95 mill ask of 2020. You will pay more. An average $300,000 home will pay an additional $515 every year.
Community members spent hours with a Board member discussing a plan to fund the schools, unify the community, and move in a fairer direction for ALL taxpayers, but any suggestion for change was rejected.
Fiscal Distress is an umbrella term for a process that involves 4 separate categories. Contrary to what the district is saying we are not in fiscal distress or emergency and the state does NOT take over a school. For a great article about this please go to www.lovelandvoice.org and be informed.
Continuing to pass levies perpetuates a school funding system that has been ruled unconstitutional. We need to make the business of schools educating children, not raising taxes! Insist on a fair funding model, and do not keep voting to sustain the current dysfunctional one.
Loveland remains in the top 10% of all Ohio districts for teacher pay. We hand out tenure like candy. The district payroll is the single most out-of-control spending item. Something must be done to change the trajectory of payroll spending and align it with the ability of our community to afford.
The district continues to tout cuts made over 2 years ago. Only 12 of these cuts were teachers. Many were bus drivers and others who resigned/retired. The savings from these cuts are long gone as spending increased again. Where are the current efforts to budget and curb unrealistic spending?
Most people seem to agree the economy will get worse before it gets better. Those who run the school apparently think you should tighten your belt so they don’t have to tighten theirs. With enrollment going down, this is not the time to hand the District another $5M per year permanently.
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More reasons to vote NO!!!
The serious problems in our economy is affecting every single person and family with higher costs in all area of living. Taxing oneself in a time of inflation/recession is a recipe for prolonging the bad economy.
Why are you being asked to sacrifice when the School Board thinks it is okay to put a “one time rainy day fund” as a line item in the budget for some undetermined future need?
Inflation in itself is the biggest regressive tax on low income earners and families.
Why must we cut expenses and pay higher taxes to the school which is not cutting expenses but expects the community to pony up so they don’t have to?
Seniors on fixed incomes may receive Social Security COLA raises but these are quickly reduced by corresponding increases in Medicare.
The Loveland District does not need additional funds in Fiscal Year 2023 and would continue to have enough money in reserve for 2 months expenses until 2024.
The School’s Five Year Forecast is NOT cast in cement.
Money is fungible and can be exchanged and replaced to make the forecast look like a school has money or needs money.
The money anticipated by the levy is added to the forecast as “future spending” thus creating deficit spending sooner and allowing the district to claim there is an urgent need for a levy.
The Loveland District already receives over $37 million in local taxes permanently on 18 previous permanent levies. 60% of your property taxes already fund the school and 91% of the school tax burden in Loveland falls directly on the property owner.
Our Board has refused to seriously investigate other avenues of revenue or has dismissed them as not feasible because they won’t bring in as much “forever” money.
Break the cycle of permanent levies by voting no and demand renewal levies
Of the 121 districts in Ohio who had levies on the ballot in November 2022 only 26 were permanent levies. 70 wererenewal levies at generally far lower amounts.
Something needs to change. This is unsustainable!
The Loveland District has expanded programming and hired back two full-time administrators, one of which was previously cut to save money. The other was unfilled until now.
All day kindergarten has been expanded so the district can claim that enrollment is going up as full day children are counted differently than half-day kindergarteners
The district claims that Full Day Kindergarten pays for itself but can only financially show that the tuition parents pay covers the teachers and none of the other expenses including overhead.
Enrollment is in steady decline punctuated by the demographic cliff which began in 2008. Another large drop in the birthrate occurred in 2020.
Despite this national decline our District expects enrollment to rise as new families move into Loveland. Is this unrealistic?
The reality is many new families are moving to other bedroom communities where taxes are not so high.
86% of the Loveland District’s budget is inherently inflationary due to teacher raises every year, high administrative salaries for 27 individuals and benefits. Our teachers are still among the highest paid in the State of Ohio (93rd percentile).
How long can we afford to “keep up with the Joneses” of Indian Hill and Madeira (top performing districts in our area.
Loveland is a unique community with very little business tax revenue. What is right for Loveland in terms of salaries and benefits that are commensurate with our community rather than neighboring districts?
There is still a crisis of trust in our community. Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair.
Up until 2019 we trusted our schools to do what was best for our kids and our community. Instead they went on a spending spree which we still haven’t recovered from.
More programs and more money do not make better schools or better educated children.
Dismissing citizens for “not moving on from the past” is not a good way to heal or rebuild trust.
The mantra that “it’s all about the kids” is an emotional one. Our community has a heart for children but not at the expense of the families they live in.
Why does “back our kids” ALWAYS come with a whopping forever price tag?
Why does the state think its responsibility is to educate the “Whole” child?
What is happening to parental authority?
Ultimately it is about an educational bureaucracy not the children.
If this levy fails the Loveland District says it will have to make more staff cuts and this will “harm” the kids. More fear mongering about homes losing value and our district approaching state emergency status is just that – fear stoking.
Staff is the biggest part of Loveland’s budget (86%). At some point you must address the rising costs associated with this segment of the budget and do what is best for Loveland and not compare what other schools are doing.
Loveland schools are nowhere near going into emergency status.
If this levy fails expect it to be placed back on in the next election opportunity.
The school will NOT run out of money. They ended last year with $14.7 million cash balance and are forecasted to end this year with an $11 million cash balance. In spite of what is claimed this is more than the state requires.