Vandalia-Butler pulls levy from ballot

VANDALIA, Ohio (WDTN) - The Vandalia Butler Board of Education voted to remove a levy from May's ballot.

The levy was for 6.99 mills.

"In light of the potential changes to how the state funds our district, we have opted to remove the levy from the ballot based on the proposed numbers," said Board of Education President Bud Zupp.

Governor Kasich's proposed funding model would provide the district about $3-million in additional funding over two years.

District leaders say the funding will not completely erase its $7-million deficit.

"The proposed funding will provide us with breathing room to retool our operations and explore further cost-savings opportunities," said Zupp. "It will not fix the hole in our budget caused by last year's funding cuts. We will still need to make program reductions for next year, and we will still need to return to voters with a levy request later this year."

The governor's funding plan is working its way through the legislature right now.  It's not expected to be finalized until June.

Vandalia-Butler says it knows it will need to go back on the ballot at some point, but not until it know exactly what funding the state will supply.

Kettering City Schools also elected to remove its levy from the May ballot.  Huber Heights City Schools are considering their options right now.