PIQUA — Members of the Piqua City Schools Board of Education discussed the district’s five-year financial forecast during their regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Thursday, Nov. 17.
“Financially, I believe the district is in sound shape as we move forward,” district treasurer Jeremie Hittle said. “We haven’t asked for new money in 17 years for operations. Our goal is to make that last as long as possible, without asking for new taxpayer money.”
Approximately 51.1% of the district’s revenue currently comes from state funding sources, Hittle said, while 48.9% comes from local sources such as property or income taxes.
“Most of our money comes from the state, then real estate and then income tax,” Hittle said.
“The fact that we’re diverse, between the income tax and the property tax, actually protects the district during inflationary times,” he said. “As we see inflation going up and wage growth occurring, that’s helping to dampen the impact of inflation. Otherwise, property tax takes a long time to get caught up with inflation”
The five-year forecast predicts a slight increase in revenues, mainly due to growth in funding generated by income tax. “That’s subject to change,” Hittle said. “We’ll know by June of this coming year.”
In other business, board members went on to approve several donations, including grants from the Piqua Education Foundation for field trips and Edison State Community College’s sponsorship of a new scoreboard in the high school basketball gym.
“It’s quite impressive if you haven’t seen it,” district Superintendent Dwayne Thompson said. “We’re excited about that.”
Board members also approved two contracts for security equipment that will be paid for by grant funding. Board members approved a $31,802.40 contract for the replacement of failing security cameras outside district buildings, and a $37,486 contract for door alarms.
“This is to put alarms on each of the doors, so that If they get blocked open they make a screeching sound until somebody comes and unblocks the door,” Hittle said. “This is a big safety feature, considering some of the most recent school shooting incidents; that’s how they had access to the building.”
“The junior high and high school already had this in place, and we needed to do that with the rest of our buildings,” he said.
Board members adjourned their meeting to enter an executive session. The board’s next regularly scheduled monthly meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15.
