WILL EMINENCE SCHOOLS REMAIN THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY? Tax vote for Eminence likely on May ballot By Michael Reschke | mreschke@reporter-times Posted: Sunday, January 19, 2014 12:00 am EMINENCE — The residents of Adams and Ashland townships will likely have to make an important choice this May: agree to increase the property tax rate or see Eminence Community School Corp. dissolve. The school board took a step in preventing the dissolution of the school corporation at its meeting Thursday night, unanimously approving a resolution to hold a referendum in May. “The school is the heart of the community,” said Terry Terhune, Eminence Community School Corp. superintendent. “This is a chance for the community to say ‘yes, we want to keep it open.’” The school corporation has reached this impasse due to a number of factors including changes in the tax structure and a decline in enrollment, which means less money from the state, Terhune said. “We’ve been as frugal and saved where we could to try to last as long as we could,” he said. However, there are only so many cuts the school can make before the quality of educational instruction offered begins to decline, he said. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the decision was made to seek a referendum asking, for the next seven years, to impose a property tax rate that does not exceed 40 cents on each $100 of assessed valuation, in addition to all other property tax levies imposed by the school corporation. Terhune said, if the referendum passes, the school corporation does not plan to ask for the entire 40 cents in the first year. The current rate for the school corporation is $0.6846, much less than neighboring school corporations. Cloverdale Community Schools is at $1.2993 and Monroe-Gregg School District is at $1.0024, according to figures Terhune provided. To demonstrate what the increase would mean in terms of costs to individual residents, Terhune said the average house affected is worth about $108,000. If the school corporation were to tax at the full rate, that would cost the homeowner about $90 per year, or about $7.50 a month, he said. If the registered voters in Adams and Ashland townships don’t approve the referendum, the school corporation will have to start looking for options to consolidate. “By the end of next school year, we will be out of money,” Terhune said. “That’s why we need the referendum now.” If the referendum does not pass, the residents of Adams and Ashland townships would still see their taxes increase. They would have to pay the tax rate of whatever school district they’ve been absorbed into, plus whatever debt Eminence Community School Corp. had left over from things like construction loans. Terhune said he expects the referendum to pass because the community loves its school. “Everything that happens in that community happens around the school,” he said. “Little League, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, the playground is the only public playground in Adams or Ashland township.” Now that the school board has passed a resolution for the referendum, it will go to the Department of Local Government Finance to make sure all the proper procedures were followed. From there, it will go to the county to be certified and placed on the May 6 ballot. “We want everyone to come out and vote so we can know the true consensus of the community,” he said. Anyone who has questions about the referendum can call Terhune at 765-528-2222.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 22:11:10 +0000
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