Wal-Mart Donates Nearly $20,000 To School District
BY KRISTEN FRITZ— MIRROR REPORTER
The Springfield board of education acknowledged gifts worth nearly $20,000 from Wal-Mart at its September 21 meeting.
Superintendent Kathryn Hott presented Jerome Seibert, manager of the Holland Wal-Mart, with a commendation in recognition of the support offered by him, his staff and the Wal-Mart Foundation.
At the start of the school year, Wal-Mart provided $10,000 in gift cards for faculty to use to purchase classroom supplies.
In addition, the Wal-Mart Foundation provided $9,500 in literacy grants – $1,500 each for the elementary schools and Springfield Middle School, and two $1,000 grants to the high school.
The board also accepted a donation of workbooks and materials for Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace high school curriculum, valued at more than $1,000, for Bonita Adams’ money management class at the high school.
Also at the meeting, the board members:
• Approved the treasurer’s financial report and annual appropriations.
• Heard a request from parent Marshall Taylor that a bus stop at Orchard and Stone Oak Boulevard be moved a short distance due to safety concerns. Hott said the board would follow up with the transportation department.
• Approved contracts for Brandy Bilek and Lyn Welly-Nauman, school improvement co-leaders, Dorr Elementary; Christine Zappone, assistant softball coach, SHS; John Parisho and Scott Baillie, assistant freshman football coaches; Chris Bingham, Title 1 teacher, Dorr Elementary; Steven Searle, Nova Net instructor; Ron Houser, concessions coordinator; certified substitutes; and certified out of school instructors.
• Approved stipends for detention monitors, extended day teachers and Saturday school monitors.
• Accepted the retirements of Dave Daugherty, SHS math teacher, effective November 30, and Sharon Puhl, secretary, SHS, effective December 31.
• Approved leaves for Katie Vogt, Kristine Walter and Lisa Stirn.
• Recognized volunteer coaches including Deb Smith, girls tennis; Brett LeVeck, David Dahmer and Sean Jones, hockey; and Andrew Screptock, boys soccer.
• Approved payment in lieu of transportation for several students attending schools outside of the district.
• Approved attendance at the Resident Educator training for Kelly Kahmann on September 30-October 1 at the Lucas County Educational Service Center.

The Springfield board of education will meet for a study session on Wednesday, October 12 at 5:30 p.m., and a regular meeting is scheduled on Wednes-day, October 26 at 5:30 p.m.

Mayor Opposes Centralization Of Municipal Income Tax Collections
BY KELLY J. KACZALA — MIRROR REPORTER
Holland Mayor Mike Yunker will present a resolution at the next village council meeting that opposes the Ohio Department of Taxation’s efforts to centralize income tax collection for all municipalities.
Yunker also said at a council meeting on September 20 that he plans to draft a letter to Gov. John Kasich, state senators and representatives voicing strong opposition to any efforts by the state to centralize income tax collection.
In a recent discussion during the state biennial budget debate, it was suggested that the Ohio Department of Taxation start researching how to accomplish taking over all income tax collection for municipal governments, according to Yunker.
It has also been discussed by Kasich as well as Ohio tax commissioner Joseph Testa.
“It appeared from their discussion that both are proponents of the idea of centralized tax collection,” Yunker said. “Although it is not currently in any pending legislation, it would only be a matter of an amendment to a current bill to get this accomplished.”
Yunker said the state would take advantage of the extra revenue to satisfy its own money problems.
He cited the Local Governments Fund, money local communities receive from the state, which has been significantly reduced.
“This LGF, which are monies originally coming from our communities, has been significantly reduced to almost nothing by the state of Ohio because the state needs this money to help them with their budget problems. This is exactly what would happen to our income tax if the state gets their hands on this money,” Yunker said.
He said the village has made a significant investment in infrastructure, land purchases and legal fees developing business centers to attract businesses.
“The revenues received from these businesses allow us to pay off our investments and reinvest in other improvements,” he said.
Income taxes provide a large percentage of the revenue local municipalities need to provide services such as police, fire, refuse, snow plowing and road repairs, in addition to quality of life amenities, he said.
“If the state of Ohio were to collect our taxes, we would have no control over when we received our taxes back, what fees they would take from it, how we would reconcile if proper taxes were collected,” Yunker said. “It would be an absolute nightmare and another enormous bureaucracy where billions of dollars would be wasted by state bureaucrats.”
The Ohio Municipal League, which also opposes centralizing municipal tax collections, stated in its August 15 bulletin that the concept has been discussed before but never by an administration official, leading the group to believe that it is a top priority of Kasich.
According to Testa, benefits of centralizing income tax collection include lower costs, reduced staff and more effective compliance.
Also at the meeting, council members:
• Authorized clerk-treasurer Lyn Krasula to release the new bank application for public funds. The village reviews its public funds agreement with its bank every five years. The current agreement ends November 30 of this year. The application allows banks to give Krasula quotes for services and costs for a new five-year term beginning on December 1.
• Authorized a $18,644 contract with Allied Paving for various concrete jobs in the village that were discussed at the last meeting.
• Authorized the purchase of refuse bags from Waste Zero for $8,278.27. The village distributes the bags to residents for trash disposal. The new bags will feature drawstring tops instead of twist ties.
• Heard from a resident regarding a security deposit that was not fully refunded following the rental of the community building. Yunker asked the resident to put his request in writing and direct it to him for review because it is an administrative rather than a council issue.