1. Saturday,February11,2006TheDelawareGazette4
Printed on recycled papers with Soy ink.
The Delaware Gazette
(ISSN 1064-2013)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2006
Member, The Associated Press • Established 1818
Gary Adkisson ..................................................................Publisher
Jeff Robinson .........................................................................Editor
Marsha Cametti ............................................. Advertising Director
Melissa Metzger ............................................... Business Manager
Bret Dennis ...................................... Director of Internet Services
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YOUR LETTERS
ARE WELCOME
• U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine
37 W. Broad St., Suite 300,
Columbus, OH 43215.
Phone: 614-469-5186 (legisla-
tion), 800-205-6446 (case
work)
http://dewine.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. George Voinovich
Address same as Sen. DeWine
Phone: 614-469-6697 (legisla-
tion) 800-205-6446 (case work)
http://voinovich.senate.gov/cont
act/index.htm
• U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi
3000 Corporate Exchange
Drive, Suite 310, Columbus,
OH 43231 Phone: 614-523-
2555
Fax: 202-226-4523
e-mail: www.house.gov/tiberi
• Governor Robert Taft
77 S. High St., 30th Floor,
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: 614-644-0813 e-mail:
None
• State Sen. Bill Harris
Room 127, Senate Office
Building, Columbus, OH
43215-4276
Phone: 614-466-8086
Fax: 614-387-2726
e-mail:
SD19@mailr.sen.state.oh.us
• State Rep. Jon Peterson
77 S. High St., 11th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43266
Phone: 614-644-6711
Fax: 614-644-9494
e-mail:
rep80@columbus.rr.com
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. — Voltaire
OPINION
“ ”
REACH YOUR
POLITICIANS
Ten things all readers
really need to know
I don’t take the privilege of writing this
column lightly. It is a chance to offer infor-
mation that is enlightening and useful to
our readers instead of just spouting off
about something that bothers me. Today I
provide 10 items that all readers should
know.
First, I’m a pretty smart guy. Maybe
that’s apparent, but I want to set the table
from the outset for those who are unsure.
Admittedly, I don’t have a lot of degree-
like letters after my name, and it took me a
few more years than the average college
student to get my degree. I think those
additional years in school make me extra-
smart. My excuse for the prolonged educa-
tion is that I was involved in a lot of
extracurricular activities. I wasn’t always
smart, but take it from me — I am now.
Really.
Secondly, the U.S. Defense Department will
spend more than $400 billion on defense in 2007,
plus another $120 billion or so for Iraq, so that’s an
easy $520 billion. It’s also seven times more than
the second-highest spender, China. Further, China,
Russia, North Korea and Iran combined will spend
about $134.8 billion in 2007. So much for that
peace dividend. At what figure would most people
question such spending — $600 billion? $800
Billion? $1,000,000,000,000? Where’s it going? Not
to the troops we claim to support. According to the
recently deceased soldier and writer Col. David
Hackworth, “the average soldier’s salary (is) barely
life-sustaining, the combat pay of the average grunt
in Afghanistan and Iraq is only $7.50 a day or
measly $225 a month.”
Department secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently
assured tax payers they were getting more bang for
their buck than from Bill Clinton’s last DOD outlay
of less than $300 billion. “We are finding ways to
operate that department in ways that are consider-
ably more efficient and more respectful of taxpay-
ers’ dollars,” Rumsfeld said. “We are getting much
more for the dollar today than we were five years
ago.”
Thirdly, I think I introduced the slang term
“unleaded” for decaffeinated coffee back in the
early 1980s when I was working in a restaurant and
involved in those extracurricular activities. I know I
invented the bar of shampoo and bed sheets held in
place by shower curtain rods and rings.
Next, you should know that if you clean up fresh
horse manure often enough, it starts to smell pretty
good. It’s only refined grass.
Fifthly, Ohio’s Supreme Court has ruled four
times that the state legislature is violating the state
constitution by not fully funding education. Schools
now rely mostly on property taxes — and burden-
some levies. Last year, Delaware city
schools spent a little more than $8,000 per
student, as did Big Walnut and Buckeye
Valley. At the other end of the spectrum,
Shaker Heights spent more than $14,000,
Bexley and Upper Arlington came in at
more than $11,000 each. I wonder how our
kids could benefit from an extra couple
grand per. If the state legislature evened the
playing field for districts as dictated by the
Supreme Court, Delaware, BW and BV
could increase their revenue by more than
$12 million, $7.5 million and $6 million,
respectively. Money alone doesn’t a great
school district make, but it certainly helps.
Sixthly, is there a better word than sixth-
ly? Maybe oscillate or tempura, but just say
it, slowly. Sixthly. See?
Seventh, salt water, especially that of the
Atlantic Ocean off the outer banks of North
Carolina, is great for killing foot and toe fungi. My
right foot is perfect and my left is getting there. I’m
trying to get a picture on our Web site of my left big
toe as proof, but the management around here is
being difficult.
Eighth, here are some great Web sites:
• http://english.aljazeera.net. They report, you
decide.
• http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5.
The exact time.
•http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=20
04&country=1. For any day, any year.
•http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ge
os/ku.html. As in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Extensive profiles on every nation.
• http://online.delgazette.com/. Guess?
• http://www.c-span.org. Everything politics.
• http://www.washingtonpost.com. All news.
• www.seeklyrics.com. That’s where I learned
that Jimi Hendrix did not say, “’Scuse me, while I
kiss this guy.”
Ninth, smoking will kill you, so cut it out right
now! Don’t be so damned selfish — think about
your kids, spouse, siblings and parents. If you don’t
care who your daughter goes out with or whether
your mom has someone to help her around when
she’s old, keep it up. But I’m telling you, it’s no
longer cool. Just in case you don’t know it — you
stink.Your teeth are brown, your fingers are yellow
and your butts are litter.
Finally, the U.S is poised to assist Israel with
more than $2.5 billion in 2006 and has provided
Egypt with $1.3 billion a year in military aid since
1979 and about $1.84 billion will go to Saudi
Arabia. E-mail me and tell me if we’ve been helping
the Middle East or hindering. I’m not sure. My
address is right below this sentence.
tpicard@delgazette.com
There’s a lot to learn
when a levy looms
Tim
Picard
My point of
view
To contact Gazette newsroom staff, call 740-363-1161 and dial an extension listed below.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT: Devon Immelt, Ext. 312
CITY OF DELAWARE, OLENTANGY SCHOOLS: Daniel Brownstein, Ext. 317
SUNBURY, BIG WALNUT SCHOOLS: Gary Henery, Ext. 372, Lenny Lepola, Ext. 368
POLICE/COURTS: Don Bruce, Ext. 369
BUSINESS, FEATURES, STATE GOVERNMENT, TEEN OF THE WEEK: Tim Picard,
Ext. 340
DELAWARE CITY SCHOOLS: John Roepke, Ext. 314
BUCKEYE VALLEY SCHOOLS: Devon Immelt, Ext. 312
SPORTS: Adam King, Ext. 315; Donn Walden, Ext. 319
OBITUARIES: John Roepke, Ext. 314
WEDDINGS, ENGAGEMENTS, ANNIVERSARIES, CLUBS, OHIO WESLEYAN UNI-
VERSITY: Jennifer Gliebe, Ext. 316
FEATURES, ALL OTHER GENERAL INFORMATION: Jeff Robinson, Ext. 330
PHOTOGRAPHY: Matt Emmons, Ext. 326
CONTACT OUR STAFF
GUEST COLUMN
Over the next several
months, Delaware resi-
dents can expect to hear
a lot about the upcoming
12.9-mill emergency
school levy that will be
placed on the May 2
election ballot.
Much of it, no doubt,
will appear on the pages
of the Gazette as school
board members, teach-
ers, administrators and
others employed by the
district strive to educate
the readers on the importance of
this levy.
No matter what you hear, or
from whom, this money is need-
ed desperately by the district.
For the bottom-liners out there,
according to the Ohio
Department of Education, the
district spends a little more than
$9,100 per student each year
(although DCS Financial
Director Chris Blue said that fig-
ure is actually $8,903 — the dif-
ference comes from the number
of students counted in tabulating
the figures). Funding from state
and federal sources accounts for
43 percent of that.
The rest of the money comes
from the district’s homeowners
and businesses. It’s that simple.
Now here is where it gets com-
plicated. Thanks to the politi-
cians in Columbus and
Washington, D.C., the means of
determining local funding can
be a migrane-inducing night-
mare. I’ve sat in board meeting
rooms and through funding sem-
inars trying to wrap my mind
around millage, 20-mill floors,
phantom revenue and other
financial terms thrown about
during the discussions.
The district has decided a 12.9-
mill emergency levy is best for
the district. I don’t dispute that,
but I do want to get across some
reasons why funding is so com-
plicated, why the burden on
local homeowners — especially
in Delaware — is so high and
why it will increase in the next
few years.
First, when a levy, regular or
emergency, is approved, it is
designed to collect a certain
amount of money. That doesn’t
change. For example, say a 5-
mill levy will collect $250,000 a
year for the district for five
years. During the fifth year of
the levy, it still will collect
$250,000. But, because property
values in the district have
increased, the millage needed to
collect the $250,000 drops from
5 mills (voted mills) to 3.5 mills
(called effective millage).
But, the state still counts the 5
mills toward the 20-mill floor (a
state law saying districts must
collect 20 mills of voted, or
inside, millage, for local fund-
ing). Being above the 20-mill
floor actually counts against the
district, which results in less
state funding thanks to the
charge-off, in which the state
basically says since property
values are so high, the district
must be collecting an excessive
amount of money.
In the case of an emergency
levy, the millage does not count
against the 20-mill floor. With
the approval of a 12.9-mill emer-
gency levy, Delaware will go
under the 20-mill floor and col-
lect a total of 32.9 mills. Right
now, the district collects slightly
more than 26.
Second, because of ever-increas-
ing costs (anyone can see how
nearly everything costs more
than it used to, and that includes
costs relating to schools) and
state and federal curriculum
requirements (see No Child Left
Behind), many districts have had
to put so much emphasis on
local funding, and many districts
have risen above the 20-mill
floor. Delaware is one
of those districts.
Kids today need to be
educated differently.
They’re more technolo-
gy savvy today, and
technology costs
money.
The last problem is the
most recent state bien-
nial budget. Among its
damaging qualities is
that it removes the busi-
ness inventory tax
(commonly referred to
as tangible personal property
tax). That’s great for business,
but terrible for schools. The state
has provisions to account for
that loss of revenue to schools
for the next five years, but no
plans beyond that.
Those three instances alone
demonstrate how fewer dollars
are coming to the district from
state and federal sources, mean-
ing more money will have to
come from local sources, i.e.
you, the taxpayer.
I’m no economist, but it doesn’t
take one to figure out that to
avoid a deficit situation, you
have to either cut expenditures
or increase revenues.
I know many people think the
school district’s financial man-
agement is poor (a woman I
spoke to recently said it should-
n’t cost this much to educate
children), but I can guarantee
passage of this levy won’t mean
new cars, computers and vaca-
tion homes for every teacher,
staff member and administrator.
The money will be spent so your
children, and your neighbors’
children, receive the best educa-
tion possible.
The school district has stated in
previous months how it could
face a severe deficit without the
money generated by these 12.9
mills. The district also is pledg-
ing to find ways to cut expendi-
tures — but these 12.9 mills
translate to approximately 23
percent of local funding — with-
out damaging the education of
the students.
I’m not advocating cutting 23
percent of the budget, but I’ll
hold them to that pledge of smart
fiscal management — the dis-
trict owes the residents that
much.
Don’t get me wrong; I under-
stand what the residents are
going through. At a recent
school board meeting, a district
resident asked the board to
specifically explain how it will
use the money generated by this
levy. That man was dead-on and
deserves a straightforward, hon-
est and detailed-as-possible
answer before May 2. It is
imperative that every person
employed by the district work to
provide every taxpayer and voter
in the Delaware school district
with that answer.
Cutting some programs and
tightening the district’s financial
belt will help, but it won’t solve
the problem. The true solution,
as I see it, is for the Ohio legisla-
ture to re-write the laws and
codes that provide the formula
for school funding in this state.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled
several years ago the way the
schools are funded is unconstitu-
tional. Since then, not a lot has
changed, except standards are
increasing and funding is
decreasing.
Until the rules are rewritten,
school districts — don’t think
Delaware City Schools is an iso-
lated case — will continue to
pile the burden of paying for a
quality education for the com-
munity’s children on the backs
of their taxpayers.
John Roepke covers the
Delaware City Schools for the
Gazette.
John
Roepke