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JOHN: THE SIGNS ARE BIG, THE CONTROVERSY EVEN LARGER. MASON MUST DECIDE. ACCURATE OR MISLEADING? >> IS NOT CORRECT. YOUR TAXES ARE NOT GOING TO BE RAISED BY 20%. >> THIS IS A 9.96 MILL LEVY DISGUISED AS A 4.71 MILL LEVY. JOHN: TWO WOMEN SEE THE SAME WORDING AND COME AWAY WITH DIFFERENT, CONFLICTING INTERPRETATIONS. KIRSTEN LUPINSKI, MOTHER OF THREE MASON STUDENTS, HELPS CO-CHAIR THE CAMPAIGN FOR ISSUE 12. SHARON POE IS A LONGTIME MASON TAXPAYER WHO LEADS THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST IT. >> WE ALL LOVE THIS COMMUNITY AND WE WANT THE BEST EDUCATION FOR OUR CHILDREN. BUT AT WHAT COST DO WE HAVE TO SPEND AND SPEN >> ALWAYS AND IS ASKING IS TO MAINTAIN THE QUALITY THAT THEY HAVE. JOHN: MASON SAYS WITHOUT THE LEVY, THE BAND, ORCHESTRA AND HOLLY SCHREIER’S 6TH GRADE CHOIR WILL SHRINK. MUSIC WOULD LOSE AT LEAST THREE POSITIONS. MRS. HARTSOCK’S THIRD GRADE GIFTED CLASS WOULD FACE ELIMINATION. THOSE WITH SIGNS IN THEIR YARDS ARE LETTING THE SIGNS SPEAK FOR THEM. MOSTLY RELUCTANT TO GO PUBLIC. EVEN A MASON GRAD WHO PUT A SON THROUGH MASON SCHOOLS. HE’S A SENIOR WHO’S VOTING NO, ACKNOWLEDGING HE HAS NOT CLICKED ON THE DISTRICT’S WEB SITE TO SEE WHAT THE SCHOOL IS SAYING. COUNTY AUDITOR MATT NOLAN TELLS US IT IS ACCURATE TO SAY IF THE LEVY FAILS, AND YOU FACTOR IN A CURRENT BOND BEING PAID OFF IN 2022, THE PRICE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PASSAGE AND FAILURE WILL BE 20%. BUT QUOTE, IT IS NOT ACCURATE TO SAY THAT CURRENT TAXES ARE GOING UP 20%. IF THE LEVY PASSES TAXES WILL GO UP 8% TO 9% FROM WHERE THEY ARE TODAY. >> 4.71 MILLS COMES ON AS AN INCREASE. JOHN: SUPERINTENDENT JONATHAN COOPER SAYS THAT’S WHAT TAXPAYERS WILL FEEL EVEN THOUGH THE LEVY IS 5 MILLS MORE THAN THAT. >> IN THE SECOND YEAR, HOWEVER, WE’RE PAYING OFF DEBT. AND SO 5.25 MILLS ACTUALLY FALLS OFF. JOHN: SO ON HOMES VALUED AT 300 GRAND, HE SAYS IT’S ROUGHLY 500 ADDITIONAL TAX DOLLARS ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT IF THE LEVY PASSES. SHARON POE BELIEVES THE DISTRICT HONEST WAY. KIRSTEN LUPINSKI IS COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE WITH HOW IT’S PRESENTED. BOTH AGREE ON ONE FACT, THE DISTRICT HASN’T PASSED A LEVY IN FIFTEEN YEARS. JOHN LONDON, WLWT NE

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The heat has turned higher in the final few weeks of a Mason school levy vote that's on the March primary ballot.To many, it's a ballot battle that will likely grow more fierce in the next 23 days before the vote. Big signs against the levy are noticeable lately, indicative of the controversy over how citizens are interpreting the math.On March 17, Mason will decide the fate of Issue 12.In the run-up to the vote, there's considerable chatter about whether the four-by-eight foot anti-levy signs are accurate or misleading."Simply it's not correct," stated Kirsten Lupinski. "Your taxes are not going to be raised by 20%."On the opposite side of the levy line, Sharon Poe characterized the 9.96 mill levy as one "disguised as a 4.71 mill levy."The two women see the same wording and come away with different, conflicting interpretations. Lupinski is a mother of three Mason students and helps co-chair the campaign for Issue 12."All Mason's asking for is to maintain the quality that they currently have," she told us. "And as a parent, I live in this district because of Mason schools."Poe is a longtime Mason taxpayer who leads the campaign against Issue 12 through an organization called the Committee To Preserve Mason."We all love this community and we want the best education for our children," Poe commented. "But at what cost do we have to spend and spend?" Mason school leaders argue that without the levy, there would have to be $8 million in cuts that they know will be painful to all concerned.They warn that high school busing would be eliminated, fees to pay for extracurricular activities including sports would spike, and jobs would be on the chopping block if the levy is rejected by voters. "We would begin meeting with our staff and letting them know who is on that list," offered Superintendent Jonathan Cooper, a parent with four children in the district.He sees a stark reality of losing 9% of the teaching staff, 9% of administrators and 4% of the classified staff in the days following a levy defeat."We would make the cuts and be right back out asking the community for another levy," Cooper said.Those with signs in their yards are letting the signs speak for them. They were reluctant to go public today when we knocked on their doors. A Mason graduate who put a son through Mason schools and did not want his named used said the way property taxes are rising, seniors and those on fixed incomes are being priced out of a community where they've lived most of their lives. He's a senior who intends to vote no while acknowledging that he has not clicked on the district's website to see what the school is saying.According to Warren County Auditor Matt Nolan, no one will pay 20% higher taxes if the levy passes. It would be roughly half of that.Here is his written statement to clarify the issue: "It is accurate to say that the difference between what a taxpayer will pay in 2022 if they levy passes or fails is 20%. That is accurate because there are at least 5.25 mills that will stop being collected in 2022 as a result of bonds being paid off. These bonds being paid off are regardless of if this levy passes or fails. It is not accurate to say that current taxes are going up 20%. If the levy passes, taxes will go up 8-9% from where they are today." Issue 12 is a 9.96 mill levy that has two distinct phases. If successful, 4.71 mills of it would take effect in January 2021. Superintendent Cooper said that's what taxpayers would feel even though the levy is 5 mills more than that."In the second year, however, we're paying off debt. And so 5.25 mills actually falls off," Cooper said.So on homes valued at $300,000, there would be an additional annual tax of $504.This is where Poe said the math the district is using gets somewhat magical."Because the 5.25 mills that they are saying is being expired would have come back to the taxpayers. So, it is a 20% property tax increase," she insisted. Poe said the better method would have been to propose a 4.71 mill levy, have the other millage returned to the taxpayers a year later, and then ask for a second levy in 2022."I think that would have been a more open and honest way," she said.Lupinski is completely comfortable with how the levy has been presented, and she urged citizens to go to the district's website to read about what has been proposed and why.Both women agreed on one fact about the ballot battle.