Dover, Ohio - The Dover City School district is headed back to the ballot this November.

During a special meeting on July 31, the Dover Board of Education voted unanimously to place a 5-year, 8.9-mill additional tax levy on the ballot for the November 6 general election. The levy will be used to cover current expenses and is expected approximately $3.57 million annually for the district.

Superintendent Carla Birney explains that the revenue will be used to preserve the district’s programs and opportunities that prepare students for the future. It will also ensure that classrooms have up-to-date technology and enhance safety throughout the district.

“This is for operating funds, and this is to really just keep things going as they are. It’s for teachers, it’s to keep our technology updated; it’s to pay for safety measures, those types of things,” she says.

Birney notes that the revenue will help offset reductions in state funding. “They’ve taken away the Tangible Personal Property Tax collection and the reimbursement, so we’ve had a loss of revenue from the state, and this is just to help continue to do what we’re doing right now,” she says.

Board President Steve Mastin notes that the district has managed to stretch funds from the 2008 operating levy and stay off the ballot for as long as possible. “Simply put, we cannot continue on the path we’re on without additional funding,” he says. 

Birney notes the district currently spends $8,562 per pupil to educate its students, the lowest rate in Tuscarawas County and 18 percent lower than the state average of $10,445 per student. 

Stacey Carmany, TuscoTV