Public Hearing On Proposed JEDZ Continued To November
BY KELLY J. KACZALA — MIRROR REPORTER
Springfield Township trustees will continue a July 19 public hearing on a proposed joint economic development zone in November so they can finalize an agreement with the village of Holland and ask voters to approve it in May.
The hearing will be continued on November 15 at 6:00 p.m.
The trustees had hoped to finalize the agreement so it could go before voters in November, but according to trustee Bob Bethel, the village of Holland would like to make adjustments to the proposal.
A survey and a map showing the legal description of parcels in the JEDZ have been completed, trustee Andy Glenn said.
The JEDZ would cover 555.68 acres of commercial property, including 128.172 acres west of Holloway Road, 220.798 acres between Holloway and I-475, 135.899 acres at the northwest corner of Airport and Holland-Sylvania Road, 26.405 acres at the southwest corner of Airport and Holland-Sylvania Road, and 44.406 acres north of Consolidated Rail Corp. at Albon Road.
A payroll tax would be levied on employees working in the JEDZ, which would be collected by Holland to help fund long-term policing services in the township.
Trustees have not yet determined what the tax rate would be in the JEDZ.
“It’s premature to say,” Bethel said. “It would be no more than the 1.5 percent income tax rate in the village of Holland. That’s our intention, but it’s not a done deal by any means.”
A portion of personal income tax paid by employees who work in the JEDZ but live in another community would be redirected to the township, administrator Leslie Kohli said at the hearing.
“If they live in Springfield Township or another township in Ohio, it would be an additional income tax because currently they’re not paying any,” Kohli said.
She said she did not know how many people that would affect.
“We know it’s a small percentage, but we don’t know the exact numbers yet,” she said.
A JEDZ is not an additional tax on a business owner, Kohli said.
“If the business owner pays himself or herself a salary or wages, yes, they would end up paying personal income tax on that, but it’s not an additional tax on their business, profits or inventory,” she said.
Trustees do not yet have an estimate of how much revenue would be raised by the proposed JEDZ, Bethel said.
The public hearing was sparsely attended.
An Angola Road resident said the public has been unaware of the proposed JEDZ and asked why trustees have not discussed it in previous meetings.
“The first I even heard of it was June 6,” she said. “I’ve been reading the minutes. No one in the community knew what JEDZ was. It’s all been talked about behind their backs. When it’s behind everybody’s backs, all the antennas go up, which mine did. I had to go find out what it was myself.”
Glenn said trustees have been discussing a possible JEDZ agreement since last year and that there should be references on the matter in the minutes of previous township meetings from last July, August, September, October and January.
Kohli said the township plans to educate the public on the details of the JEDZ.
“This is step one to see if we can even get an agreement. After that happens, the next step is to educate so people know what it is,” she said.
At a Holland-Springfield Chamber of Commerce meeting in October, there will be a discussion of the JEDZ, she added.
“I absolutely encourage any individuals or organizations to contact me so we can come and educate people and let you know what a JEDZ is,” she said. “We want people to understand it because if people really understand it, it’s not as threatening or as bad as people think.”
Kohli said the proposed JEDZ has not been discussed in detail because the contract has not yet been approved.
According to Al Brogan, the township’s lawyer, the ballot issue would read: “Shall the resolution of the board of trustees with the township of Springfield approving the contract with the Village of Holland for the designation of a Joint Economic Development Zone be approved?”
The income tax rate itself, he said, would be included in the contract with Holland.
Kohli said she would post the proposed contract on the township’s website at www.springfieldtownship.net.
Glenn said the alternative to raising funds for policing services through a JEDZ would be a property tax.
“Our only other option is to put it all on the backs of property owners,” Glenn said. “That’s it and we don’t want to do that.”
At their July 19 meeting, the Springfield Township trustees approved placing a 3-mill levy on the November ballot to fund police services. If voters pass the JEDZ in May, the 3-mill levy would be reduced, trustees said.
“If the JEDZ passes, and we start seeing what the income stream is from that, we always have the option of reducing the amount of the property tax levy at any point,” Glenn said.
Township officials expressed concerns about the ability to pay for police services if the JEDZ and levy are defeated.
The township revenue is down $530,000 in general property taxes and $412,000 in tangible personal property taxes this year, Glenn said.
Kohli said the township has cut expenditures.
“We just recently reduced the zoning hours from two full-time employees to 30 hours per week,” she said. “It’s not as if we’re not looking at lots of ways to make cuts, including personnel issues.”

Springfield Schools To Seek 3.9-Mill Continuing Operating Levy In November
BY KRISTEN FRITZ — MIRROR REPORTER
The Springfield board of education voted to seek a 3.9-mill permanent tax levy from voters in November at its July 21 meeting.
While a 3.9-mill request failed at the ballot box in May, the district simply needs the money, board member Ken Musch said.
He said the district’s latest round of budget cuts of $1.6 million would hurt in terms of quality of education.
“Class sizes are going to get bigger, there is not going to be as much support for the teachers and administrators, and it’s going to be very difficult to maintain our excellent academic rating,” he said.
Passing the levy would enable the district to restore many of those cuts, although previous cuts – $2 million worth – would not be restored.
Musch pointed out that Springfield is more affected by declines in local tax revenues because it receives less state support than other districts.
“Many districts such as Toledo get approximately 78 percent of what it takes to educate a child from the state of Ohio, so they’re not as heavily impacted by the decline in real estate and the increase in tax delinquencies,” he said. “In our case, we only get 17 percent of what it takes to educate a child from the state of Ohio. The rest is our local tax dollars.”
Board member Ev Harris said no help is forthcoming from the state.
“Our legislators are sitting on their hands. They’re not doing one thing for us to get us any money, so it’s up to our local people again to come through if they want a quality education,” he said.
Board members said they would announce by next month the next round of cuts that would be made if the levy fails, which could include sports, extracurricular activities, bussing and additional staff positions.
In other business at the meeting, the board:
• Approved the treasurer’s report.
• Accepted a donation of $5,000 from Paramount Health Care to publish a resource guide.
• Heard a presentation from food service supervisor David Zambo.
Zambo said expanded meal options at the high school were partially responsible for increased sales overall. In 2010, 330,000 meals were served, up 22,000 from 2009. More students bought full meals, while a la carte sales were down.
The district brought in approximately $10,000 in catering revenue and $500 in vending sales, at no cost to the district.
Zambo said the year was challenging due to employee illnesses. Despite spending $20,000 in sick pay and to hire substitutes for those employees, the cafeteria finished the year with a balance of more than $38,000.
The food service department finished the year in the black for the first time in recent memory, according to a statement from treasurer Bob Moellenberg, who was not at the meeting.
• Set the school lunch and breakfast prices for the 2010-11 school year. Prices will remain the same as last year.
Lunch will cost $2.60 for high school and middle school students and $2.35 for elementary students.
The breakfast price will be $1.10 at the high school and $1.00 at the middle and elementary schools.
• Addressed a question from parent M.G. Wood, who asked why the dress code was changed suddenly and without parent input after so much time was spent revamping the code four years ago.
Superintendent Kathryn Hott explained that the assistant principals were spending much of their time dealing with dress code violations and not on academic issues. With fewer administrators in the district due to budget cuts, the dress code was relaxed, and administrators will monitor the situation, Hott said.
• Approved hiring Steven Lee as principal of Crissey Elementary. Lee replaces Cheri Copeland-Shull, who resigned.
• Approved staff recommendations made by Hott.
• Approved contracts with the Renhill Group and Claus Temporaries of America for instructional assistants for 2010-11. There is no increase in cost for this year.
• Heard Hott announce that the district expects to receive another “excellent” rating from the Ohio Department of Education this year. Based on preliminary test results, the district met 26 out of 27 state standards, she said. The ODE will announce official ratings on August 27.
• Approved professional workshop attendance for Kristie Chandler.
• Commended Bonita Adams’ second- and fifth-period business management foundation classes for finishing in eighth and tenth places, respectively, out of 44 teams in the University of Toledo’s stock competition; teacher Jennifer Stonitsch for receiving a letter of gratitude from a parent; and student J.T. Gwozdz for being selected to represent Ohio at Boys Nation.
• Adjourned to executive session.

The next regular meeting of the Springfield board of education is Wednesday, August 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the administration building.