Natural gas conversion project almost finished
Voters in the Riverside School District will see a levy question on the November ballot that, if approved, would reduce their school district income tax from the current 1.75 percent to 1.5 percent.
Board of education members voted 4-0 at their Tuesday evening meeting in favor of a resolution to proceed with the replacement ballot issue, which would raise funds on a continuing basis. President Dr. Bradley Adams was absent from the meeting.
Members noted the funding mechanism for the new income tax replacement issue will only tax earned income, unlike the current levy in place. This change would relieve retirees from having their retirement income subject to this tax.
This proposed levy is the second reduction of its kind the district has made to its income tax, which was originally passed at the rate of 2 percent.
“We’re asking the community to reduce their income taxes; I don’t know of any other school districts in Ohio in recent years that can say that,” Vice President Robert Bender said.
“Eight-and-a-half years ago, our district had a $400,000 deficit. Now this year, we have an $8 million carry-over. It’s through the efforts of our administration and staff that we’ve been able to turn this around through excellent stewardship, and our community has also made sacrifices to help us get to this point.”
“There were a lot of smart decisions that were made to help us get here,” Treasurer Ronnie Fitchpatrick said.
Read complete story in Wednesday’s Examiner.
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