Tiffin City Schools levy voted down: Here’s what that means for the district

Voters in the Tiffin City School district rejected a 38-year, $44.2 million bond in the 2020 primary election, according to results released Tuesday evening.

The bond issue failed by a 23.56% margin, with 61.78% of 5,147 total votes being against the bond issue, and 38.22% voting in favor.

According to the district, the 38-year, $44.2 million bond would have provided the community the following:

• A new PreK-6th grade building
• The 82 acres of farmland for the new PreK-6th grade building
• Renovation of the middle school building (currently 6th-8th grade) into a junior and senior high school building (7th-12th grade)
• Renovation of the current high school building to keep the auditorium, gymnasium, HVAC, and other areas of the building

The district says the bond would have provided for a consolidated educational experience, decreasing the amount of buildings in the district from six to just two. This, the district says, would have provided for a safer, more cost efficient, leaner, and smarter school district.

If the local community passed the bond issue, it would have granted the district access to additional state funding within the next five years. It would have also provided funding to support the next 15-20 years of building maintenance.

The cost to an average homeowner with a $100,000 property value would have been $187.25 per year. The current bond issue for the middle school expires in 2023, and its current collection is $65 for a $100,000 home.

The failed bond would have brought the new net cost to $121.50 beginning in 2024. Senior citizens over the age of 65 were eligible to apply for a discount.

Existing buildings would have been offered to other educational entities, but if no one wanted the buildings, they would have been demolished. The cost of demolition was written into the bond.

Now, because the bond issue didn’t pass, the district says the state may not fund the cost to upgrade current buildings because the cost to upgrade is greater than 66% of the cost to build new.

The school district says they will likely have to continue investing in buildings that will need to be replaced eventually anyway, due to the bond issue’s failure.