“The way I like to talk about (the levy) with folks or explain it is that it’s kind of like you’re going to buy a car,” school board president Mark Remmetter said during the April 7 meeting. “You get a five-year loan and after you pay it off, it’s done. That’s what this is. We’re getting a five-year levy to pay off a five-year loan that the district’s going to give to fund some permanent improvement projects.”
The levy would generate $1.04 million per year and cost a taxpayer $97.30 annually per $100,000 in appraised property value. The estimated cost of the new transportation facility is $1.5 million, plus $1.75 million for the elementary school work, and $400,000 for the multipurpose room, and other improvement projects around the district.
School officials asked voters to approve a similar, but slightly smaller 1.99-mill property tax levy last November that was rejected by a 64-36 ratio.
Resident Diana McCubbin expressed disappointment in the school board bringing the levy back “because to me our citizens spoke and they spoke loudly with that (November) difference.”
“To run on the special election, it must be very important for our school board to do so, or you’re hoping that a lot of people don’t come out to vote because that’s typically when we see these levies come back,” McCubbin said. “As you said, the levy would go away. Levies never go away. There’s always something more that either local government needs or school needs.”
Tim Munch agreed with McCubbin, saying he’s a senior living in the district and has a very tight budget and fixed income.
“That’s a big deal. These levies always come up ... All I care about is my bottom line. And the levy will affect my bottom line,” Munch said. “You should have to be a homeowner. We’re the ones affected ... It’s serious when seniors can’t afford to live because your taxes just keep nickel and diming us. (McCubbin) was right. They’ll come right back up. There’s always a need for something. There’s always an operating expense.”
Resident Robert Storm said he supports this levy.
“It’s a good problem to have that there are more students that want to be educated at Greenon Local Schools. I think all that we can do to make sure that is the best experience possible for them behooves us,” Storm said. “Certainly it is not glamorous to go out and ask money to build a bus garage, but that’s one of those things that we are responsible for and we have to do.”
The current transportation facility, built in 1947, was an old gas station and mechanic shop in the past that was purchased for $1 in 1974, said Knapke, the superintendent. He said to repair the bus garage, instead of replace it, would cost $729,000. That doesn’t include costs involved in the repair process such as removal of the underground fuel tanks and a potential septic system update.
“Given that cost and the uncertainty regarding the longevity of the existing facility, construction of the new garage makes the most financial sense to us,” he said.
The multipurpose space at the athletic complex would roughly fit two full-size wrestling mats and would primarily be used for wrestling during the winter, as well as for other athletes and sports in the off-seasons. Knapke said. This would in turn free up other space within the district for other sports teams, clubs and community organizations.
Greenon voters in 2017 approved a bond issue to pay the local share of a new $50 million K-12 school campus. The state paid about $14.6 million for the $50 million school, which opened in September of 2021.
As part of the project, the board decided to brick-in the unfinished area in case they grew in size and needed more classrooms, which cost just under $700,000 of district money, Knapke said. The state will only pay for certain parts of a school building project, but local districts can add others, such as the gym, mezzanine area, bleachers, extra square footage and other items.
In a district of just under 1,600 students, the elementary student population has increased from 846 in 2017 to 910 in 2025, according to the district. They said a waitlist is growing so they don’t overload classrooms and teachers.
“You have a wish list, but you can’t do everything. We didn’t have enough money at that point to do a bus garage. We didn’t have enough money to finish this white space, this unfinished space. But we were able to at least brick it in to save money so down the line, if we were growing in size and we wanted to end up making these classrooms we could do it and that’s why we’re here today,” he said.
For more information and FAQs about the levy, visit www.greenonschools.org/page/levy.
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