April 21, 2017
To the NREVSD Community:
As part of our ongoing effort to keep you informed about the financial status of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District, we wanted to provide an update on some of the reductions we will face and some of the recommended adjustments we will consider in the coming months.
As we mentioned before, the Beckjord Power Station closed in the fall of 2014, and work has been ongoing to decommission the plant. We were previously receiving $1.6 million in annual tax revenues from the plant prior to its closing. That amount has been reduced to $800,000 for calendar year 2017 and we anticipate that most of the remaining $800,000 in revenues will be lost in future years as the remainder of the equipment is removed and the building demolished.
NREVSD Treasurer Mike Mowery explains the details of additional lost revenue. “Duke Energy’s ownership interest in the Zimmer Electric Plant was sold to Dynegy, Inc in 2015 and in 2016 the district was notified that the sales price reduced the taxable value by $42 million. That is resulting in a loss of $1,350,000 in annual tax revenues in calendar year 2017. This was a very sudden decrease in our revenues.” The schools in Ohio that are affected by power plant devaluation are working to offset this loss through a change in the State of Ohio’s funding formula for schools, but the legislation has not been developed or passed.
The State of Ohio is currently working on their next two year budget that will start July 1, 2017. The State’s financial condition has been deteriorating and the indications are that there will be very little money available for any increases in funding for schools.
In March, Superintendent Adam Bird traveled to Columbus to testify at the Ohio Statehouse regarding the impact that the Beckjord closing, the Zimmer devaluation, and the P.U.T.P.P. (Public Utility Tangible Personal Property) reduction is having on New Richmond students.
In relation to the public utility values and the planned closing of the Beckjord plant, the school district reduced expenses beginning in 2010 in order to accumulate a cash balance that would provide funds to operate in future years. Ultimately, however, between the loss of the Beckjord plant and now the Zimmer devaluation, the district will exhaust the cash balance now on hand. The school district is currently considering what measures can be taken and looking at options to enable us to continue to provide our students with a high quality education.
The Board of Education and the Administrative Team have been working together to consider some reasonable budget reductions in 2017-2018 in response to the losses we are facing. Some of those reductions are:
Impose a 10% cut on all budgets
Eliminate 2 County Psych Assistants
Build Professional Development into the district school calendar
There are also a few investments we will be making as a district:
“We are trying to find the right balance between preserving quality programs for our students and financial efficiency,” said Superintendent Adam Bird.