The Delaware City School District will ask for a straight renewal of a permanent-improvement levy in the fall, with no additional funds requested.

The Delaware City School District will ask for a straight renewal of a permanent-improvement levy in the fall, with no additional funds requested.

In 1989, voters passed a 3-mill permanent-improvement levy that must be used only for for facilities and ground maintenance, such as the purchase of buses and computers.

"The money from this levy supports the activities we need to maintain a district of this size," Superintendent Paul Craft said.

The levy has been renewed four times, with the latest renewal in 2009. The district will ask for a fifth renewal Nov. 4.

The annual cost to homeowners would be around $86 per $100,000 in property value.

The levy generates about $2 million annually, but as more homes are built and home values change, the amount paid per household will continue to go down.

With inflation, Craft said, the cost of living continues to rise, but the amount of money the district receives has dropped.

"We could ask the voters for more money to accommodate that, but we don't believe this is the right time," he said.

"We are always reluctant to ask for more money. We only do that when we have no other alternative."

The levy supports the purchase of two or three school buses every year to meet the district's goal of having 40 buses on the road, each for at least 15 years.

With more electronic resources available, the number of textbooks needed has gone down, but the number of computers needed has gone up.

Craft said the district spends around $500,000 on computers and computer maintenance every year.

If the levy is not approved, the district will need to divert funds from the support staff pool of money into the permanent-improvement fund, he said.

"We will have to make staff cuts, including teachers and teacher aides," he said.

Craft said the money generated from the levy funds building maintenance, allowing facilities to last longer, so the district needs to spend much less than other districts in Ohio.

"The average age of our buildings is 50 years ... The buildings we have now are the buildings we're going to have," Craft said.

The last time the district asked for additional tax revenue was in 2011, when an 8.3-mill, five-year tax levy was approved.

Craft said he believes the district is years away from needing to ask voters for additional money, even though it receives only 70 percent of what he thinks it should collect from the state.

"I have hope that the governor will fully fund the formula that would enable us to receive the full amount of money that we should be receiving," he said.