Thank you for your support during the campaign. Issue #9 did not pass. Licking County results can be found here
Pataskala income tax passes, but school levy defeated May 5, 2010 Newark Advocate article
Southwest Licking school levy defeated May 5, 2010 Columbus Dispatch article
Vote FOR Southwest Licking Local Schools' Emergency Operating Levy RENEWAL with an increase of 3.9 mills to account for student growth.
The total millage on the ballot will read 9.5 mills.
Read Issue #9 ballot language here
Pataskala Standard Endorses SWL Levy, and more...
What will it cost me?
The total millage on the ballot will read 9.5 mills.
Read Issue #9 ballot language here
Pataskala Standard Endorses SWL Levy, and more...
What will it cost me?
- May 4, 2005: Voters approve a 7 mill Emergency Operating Levy for five calendar years. Emergency levies collect specific dollar amounts. This levy was approved to collect $3.25 million per year.
- Today: That Emergency Operating Levy now collects at 5.6 mills due to increases in property values in the district. The specific dollar amount collection is still $3.25 million per year, but will stop collecting at the end of this year.
- Today: SWL is making $600,000 in cuts to the district budget for 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 school years whether the levy passes or not. This is a total of $1.2 million dollars in savings over two years. Furthermore, administrator salaries have been frozen for the 2010/2011 school year, and there are no raises planned for teachers in the five-year forecast.
- May 4, 2010: Voters will decide to renew the previous levy (collecting now at 5.6 mills or $3.25 million) plus an additional 3.9 mills to collect $2.25 million per year. The increase of 3.9 in millage is needed to account for student growth and help balance the budget. Only 3.9 mills will be new money for taxpayers. Go here to see what the increase will cost you.
Strong Schools = Strong Community
It isn’t always easy to get to know your neighbors in our community. Some of the great things about living here are the big yards and open spaces, but those features aren’t amenable to chats in the front yard or bumping into each other during a stroll along the block.
In fact, it isn’t always clear what we mean when we say “our community.” Is that Pataskala? Kirkersville? Etna? Each of those places is unique in its own right. So what makes all of us part of one community?
Just this: Our schools.
Our schools bring us together. They are the tie that binds us—in good times and bad. Maybe most importantly in the bad times. We all know the economy is difficult. Making ends meet is a challenge. It’s nice to be able to spend a night out close to home at a baseball or soccer game, band concert or talent show. It’s comforting to know through it all, the hum of a school hallway never changes. Those experiences are something we all have in common—whether we’re young or old, farmer or banker … or from Pataskala, Etna, or Kirkersville.
Our schools should be the lynchpin of our community, and in many ways they already are. But in times like this we all have to do a little more—and that starts in the schools. That’s why this levy campaign is about more than the outcome of a vote. It’s about rediscovering that connection between school and community and providing a reminder of how important our schools are not just to our kids, but to all of us. That connection carries with it responsibility, and our teachers, students and administrators are embracing it. They are standing together not only to support this campaign, but to make a pledge to be active, committed, lasting community partners. Regardless of the outcome of the levy vote, that pledge will not change. In the weeks following the levy vote, you will see our schools coming together at the Arts Fest to combat hunger at the Empty Bowls fundraiser for local food banks. Stand Up helped organize the event, but the students embraced the idea of community and standing together, and they made the Empty Bowls project possible.
We're standing up because we believe our community is only as strong as our schools—and because we all can do better. Imagine what we can accomplish if we stand together.
In fact, it isn’t always clear what we mean when we say “our community.” Is that Pataskala? Kirkersville? Etna? Each of those places is unique in its own right. So what makes all of us part of one community?
Just this: Our schools.
Our schools bring us together. They are the tie that binds us—in good times and bad. Maybe most importantly in the bad times. We all know the economy is difficult. Making ends meet is a challenge. It’s nice to be able to spend a night out close to home at a baseball or soccer game, band concert or talent show. It’s comforting to know through it all, the hum of a school hallway never changes. Those experiences are something we all have in common—whether we’re young or old, farmer or banker … or from Pataskala, Etna, or Kirkersville.
Our schools should be the lynchpin of our community, and in many ways they already are. But in times like this we all have to do a little more—and that starts in the schools. That’s why this levy campaign is about more than the outcome of a vote. It’s about rediscovering that connection between school and community and providing a reminder of how important our schools are not just to our kids, but to all of us. That connection carries with it responsibility, and our teachers, students and administrators are embracing it. They are standing together not only to support this campaign, but to make a pledge to be active, committed, lasting community partners. Regardless of the outcome of the levy vote, that pledge will not change. In the weeks following the levy vote, you will see our schools coming together at the Arts Fest to combat hunger at the Empty Bowls fundraiser for local food banks. Stand Up helped organize the event, but the students embraced the idea of community and standing together, and they made the Empty Bowls project possible.
We're standing up because we believe our community is only as strong as our schools—and because we all can do better. Imagine what we can accomplish if we stand together.