ATTN ALL LITTLE MIAMI SD RESIDENTS

Future.Mrs.Shawty · January 2010

There is a new levy on the ballot in February and it is our responsibility to get out and vote!!!

It is important to our kids and our community to maintain an excellent schoold district. If you have any questions on the levy (ie. what it means, how much it will cost you, what happens if it fails, etc) please feel free to do it here!

The problem with voting is that there are a lot of residents that don't get out and vote. There are also a lot of people who vote NO because they don't really know what it means to them...all they know is that it's going to raise their property taxes.

Please if you have questions - ASK! Get the answers! Be an educated voter! I do not judge people that disagree with me. But I will say I can't stand it when people go into a decision uneducated. Please feel free to disagree. If everyone agreed on everything, the world would be a pretty boring place.

KarmaKP · January 2010

I'm glad you posted this PSA. I'm not sure how many of us are in the LM school district but even if there are only a few lurkers, it's worth posting. I've been reading lots of letters to the editor the past few months and people are VERY passionate about this topic on both sides. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Personally, I don't want to pay more taxes but it already makes me sad that Conner doesn't have music, art and other things. I'd hate to think that he will miss out on anything else - even if only "temporarily".

cincyGirl1980 · January 2010

Why do they always go with property taxes? I was just talking to someone about this last night. Have they thought about going with an earned income tax? That is what they did where I work. As horrible as it is to say, old people vote and don't have earned income. They would likely vote for it and tip the scale in the right direction.

Future.Mrs.Shawty · January 2010

cincyGirl1980:
Why do they always go with property taxes? I was just talking to someone about this last night. Have they thought about going with an earned income tax? That is what they did where I work. As horrible as it is to say, old people vote and don't have earned income. They would likely vote for it and tip the scale in the right direction.

They tried that in November 2008 with a 1% Earned Income Tax. It failed. Here is what the district has to say about why that won't work now:

Q. The community seems to want an earnings tax. Why not put that on the ballot?

A. In November of 2008, before the financial ?hole? Little Miami was in had grown significantly, an earnings tax offered our community a viable long-term solution. Unfortunately, it is now not an option that would keep Little Miami out of Fiscal Emergency for the following reasons:

Collection Time*

Due to a number of factors, including cuts in state funding, economic recession and lower property values, and multiple failed levies, the district is in the position of needing cash quickly.
The earnings tax is not a viable option at this time because the average school district receives 5.4% in the first fiscal year, but does not reach 100% collection until 18th months later.
A property tax will generate approximately 50% in the first fiscal year and reach full collection in approximately 9 months.
In Little Miami?s case, even if an earnings tax were to pass in 2010, the district would not reach full collection until approximately July of 2012. By comparison, a property tax would reach full collection by approximately October of 2011.
In the extra 9 months that it would take to reach full collection with an earnings tax, the district will spend nearly $23 million on daily operations. We simply do not have the luxury of waiting that long.

*For more information on collection times for earnings tax revenues, go to the Ohio Department of Taxation website at: http://tax.ohio.gov/divisions/tax_analysis/tax_data_series/individual_income/documents/Timeline.pdf

Increased Percentage Necessary

If the district were to pass an earnings tax to solve the problem right now, it would need to be in the amount of at least a 3% earnings tax.
Even at 3%, due to the delay in collection, the district would still go into fiscal emergency, and it would take at least 3 years to get out of it and back on track.
To stay out of fiscal emergency, an earnings tax of more than 10% would be required.

johnandkristin · January 2010

We moved to the district in July and I voted YES for the last levy in November. I don't understand why they were asking for much less money in November and now they need a lot more. The district needs a lot of help.

As a parent with two little ones I am very concerned about how things will go. As a taxpayer, we can't afford the extra money/month if it passes....so we are kind of at a loss.

Future.Mrs.Shawty · January 2010

johnandkristin:

We moved to the district in July and I voted YES for the last levy in November. I don't understand why they were asking for much less money in November and now they need a lot more. The district needs a lot of help.

As a parent with two little ones I am very concerned about how things will go. As a taxpayer, we can't afford the extra money/month if it passes....so we are kind of at a loss.

The reason it is so much more this time than it was in November is because of the amount of time it takes to collect the monies. You cannot collect monies until the year following the passing of the levy. So, if it had passed in November, the schools could have started collecting that money in January 2010 (right now). But it failed. So if it passes in February, they cannot start collecting monies until January 2011. Because the school still needs to operate in 2010, they will essentially go into more of a deficit and then the monies collected in 2011 will get them out....thus needing more to do that.

The outcome of both last November's levy and this February's levy will be the same - it will just take more money at once to get out of the hole now than it did a couple months ago.

Does that make sense?

I do understand that some can't afford such an increase. At the same time, it would cost much more to send your children to private school. With a state run school district, your child will not be getting all the "extras" that other schools are giving the kids...which means, when they go and apply for college, they are already behind most of the other applicants. That's only one major issue for me, as a parent.

Not only will your children lose out on a complete education - but your community and your home value will be effected.

Did you get the mailouts/handouts that the pro-levy campaign has been sending out to residents? The information will answer ANY question you have regarding the why's and how's. If you don't have those, you can always check their website at www.lmpantherpride.org

ATTN ALL LITTLE MIAMI SD RESIDENTS

Re: ATTN ALL LITTLE MIAMI SD RESIDENTS

Q. The community seems to want an earnings tax. Why not put that on the ballot?

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