![shelby](http://69.195.124.74/~innovby5/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/shelby.jpg)
School levy profile: Shelby City Schools
![shelby](http://69.195.124.74/~innovby5/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/shelby.jpg)
What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy
Two-thirds of the school levies on the Nov. 6 ballot are seeking additional local revenue to support public education, the highest percentage of new tax issues in a general election in at least the past decade. The rate of new money requests has steadily climbed since 2003 as school districts struggle to offset rising costs and the loss of state and federal funding to education. But if history proves to be an accurate indicator, most will fail. Statewide, there are 194 school levies on the November ballot, including 123 requests for additional funding. The others seek to renew or continue existing taxes, according to election records maintained by the Ohio secretary of state.[Read more…]
“All I know is, I’m paying all this money and my kid doesn’t have a bus,” said parent Julie Jackson, who estimated this levy would cost her family $584 annually. “We’re definitely not getting raises that are meeting up with all these increases — not just from the district but from the whole economy. I don’t feel that I can vote for this levy again.”In November, the District is seeking a 5-year, 6.7-mill emergency operating levy that would raise $11 million annually and represent an increase of $205 per year on the tax bill of a $100,000 home. Of the 6.7-mills it’s requesting, the district says 2 mills are needed just to make up for the loss of state funding. That means $61 of that tax increase can be directly linked to the Governor who balanced the state budget by cutting education. If the levy passes, cuts to bus transportation, gifted programs, tutoring and elementary art, music and phys-ed would be restored. But if the majority of voters agree with Ms. Jackson and the levy fails, without additional revenue, the district faces deficits and will need to reduce operating costs further, almost certainly in a way that directly impacts the quality of education district kids receive.