Schools to bring levy to voters
$16.3 million renewal will be on Nov. 4 ballotBy MICHAEL ERB
PARKERSBURG - This November Wood County Schools will ask area voters to renew the district's $16.3 million continuing levy.
The Wood County Board of Education Tuesday evening unanimously voted to put the levy on the November election ballot.
The renewal would be for a five-year period beginning in 2009 and running through 2014. The levy was renewed in 2004. Superintendent Bill Niday said at a recent board meeting putting the levy on the Nov. 4 ballot would save the district and taxpayers about $100,000 in special election costs.
Only one area of the $16.3 million operating levy has changed from the previous version. Officials added $434,630 in funding for the Parkersburg & Wood County Public Library and Vienna Public Library, the cost of which is covered by growth in the levy and will not result in a higher rate for taxpayers, Niday said. The library dollars were added after changes in state law last year altered how public libraries can be funded through public school systems.
The board has asked former school board members Lori Williamson and Tim Amos to help get information to the public concerning the importance of the levy to Wood County Schools operation.
Niday called passage of the levy "vital" to the continued success of Wood County Schools. A large portion of the $16.3 million goes directly to salaries for teachers and support personnel without which the school system could not offer certain services, such as school nurses, literacy specialists and some tutoring programs.
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DILLIGAS
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07-17-08 4:15 AM
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And here all along I thought the West Virginia lottery money was to help go to our school systems and senior citizens. What has happened to this money?
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Bandit
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07-16-08 10:04 AM
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VOTE NO FOR LEVY-Please consider this when deciding to cast your vote. The housing market & property values are down for those wishing to sell, but property tax value and taxes levied against our property has not dropped. In fact, it has risen since last year. Every year the county places a higher tax value on our property increasing the amount of taxes we pay which generates an increase in funding for the school system. They do have increased living cost, but so do we. Do we receive an increase in funding every year to offset our rising cost in expenses? When we run a household budget, we calculate all expenses vs incoming monies to pay those expenses-a budget-and strive to stay within that budget. If we over extend, is anybody there to help bail us out? I am porud of our school system. It is the best in the area, but many of us home owners (seniors as well as weekly pay checkers with no chance of a raise) live on a fixed income. Enough is enough. Voice your opinion by voting NO
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