Gibsonburg voters reject school levy

GIBSONBURG – Voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed 2-mill levy Tuesday that would have raised $200,000 annually for the Gibsonburg school district.

Based on unofficial results from the Sandusky County Board of Elections, 436 voters, or 67.8 percent, decided against the Gibsonburg school levy, with 207 voters for it.

Of 3,320 voters, 642 made a choice regarding the Gibsonburg levy — about 19 percent of registered voters.

District voters knocked down a permanent improvement levy that would have helped repair, maintain and improve school grounds.

Newly hired district Superintendent Tim Murray, who served as the district’s high school principal last year, recently said that passing the 2-mill levy would allow the school to replace leaky doors, upgrade technology, and add lighting to the schools’ parking lots.

“The levy will raise $200,000 annually,” Murray said previously. “This money will not go towards salaries.”

Most state tests are done using computers, and the state is pushing to ensure students in elementary schools are computer-literate. The computer component to the levy would have cost $41,368.

If the 2-mill levy had passed, Murray said, the board would have asked the county auditor to drop a 1-mill levy approved in 1980.

Murray said the 1-mill levy forced the district to spend $145,279 during the 2014-15 school year from the general fund to cover expenses.

The failed levy would have cost the owner of a $100,000 home $70 per year, about $5.83 a month.

dacarson@gannett.com

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Twitter: @DanielCarson7