Zane Trace wins levy passage

KINNIKINNICK – A classic commercial from years ago featured a mechanic telling viewers they could either pay him now or pay him later – a choice similar to the one the Zane Trace Local Schools put before district voters Tuesday.

Those voters decided the time to pay was now, passing a five-year, 0.75 percent earned income tax levy for operations on its second attempt by a 56 percent to 44 percent margin, or 175 votes. The margin of victory was almost as large as the margin of defeat had been for a similar levy request in November, when nearly 60 percent of voters opposed the measure that would bring an estimated $1.2 million into the district annually.

Superintendent Jerry Mowery said district officials and members of the levy committee learned a few things from the November levy campaign that may have spelled the difference Tuesday.

"One of our strategies this time was to go out and listen to some of the naysayers and some of the philosophies against the levy in general or why they wouldn't vote for the Zane Trace levy. We hope that that had a little bit of difference that we were willing to come out and listen, not that we could change everything in a month's time or a year's time," Mowery said. "But we wanted to listen to them and see what some of those barriers or obstacles were in getting passage."

The levy carried with it the promise of a return trip to the voting booth if it had been defeated. Voters had to decide whether they were ready to pay a bit more now to stop the first of two planned rounds of significant budget cutting or face a decision to pay later to keep the second round of reductions from going into effect.

In the buildup to Tuesday's levy vote, Mowery informed voters the district would be facing a half-million dollar spending deficit in its immediate future if the levy was defeated. The result would have been a two-phase set of spending reductions designed to trim $1.6 million in expenditures out of the budget over the next two academic years.

Among the reductions in the first phase for the 2015-16 school year would have been elimination of bus service to and from school for high school students, elimination of four and a half positions through attrition, elimination of the transportation director and high school media coordinator, a reduction in services contracted for through the Ross-Pike Educational Service District, and a declaration that providing bus transportation by the district to private schools is impractical.

The second phase of cuts, which would have taken place in 2016-17, would have included a loss of programs in art, physical education, music, band and one foreign language. It also would have involved loss of the Middle School Skills for Life program, elimination of all supplemental contracts for academic and athletic extracurricular program advisers and coaches, and elimination of a high school secretary and fiscal assistant positions.

This time around, Mowery said the decision was made to clearly lay out the consequences of a levy failure so voters could make an educated decision on what they wanted for the future of the district. District officials also were clear that they would likely have to keep coming back to voters with the levy request until it won passage because the budget deficits and tighter state funding were not going to go away on their own.

"We didn't do that in November, and in looking back and listening to our people, we felt like maybe that was a mistake in November that we made," he said. "Hopefully (the decision to announce the proposed cuts) was something that changed people's minds. When you look at that, particularly Phase Two, without the levy passing and it was pretty drastic."

Mowery said the district now has plenty of planning to do before the money from the levy actually begins coming into the district. Priorities will involve getting a handle on the budget deficit, looking to address technology issues that students will need for future success and shoring up the district's transportation situation, with hopes of being able to do even more for students a couple years down the road.

"This really keeps us afloat and will allow us to do some things for our kids and hopefully retaining good kids here," Mowery said.

The results are unofficial until certified by the Board of Elections.