Listening to some of the school board member's suggestion that it would be better if the State took over the school and then forced us to borrow money to keep it open got me thinking it must be ok to propose goofy solutions.  So I will.  What would happen if we closed the schools for a year and instead had all the residents sign their kids up for either online classes or send them to charter schools? 
 
The benefit to the school budget is obvious because the property tax gets collected and put into "the bank" whether the school teaches one student or four thousand.  Looking at the five year forecast we see the school expects to collect about $30 million in property tax each year.  If the administration needs $5 million to get ready to re-open in 2015 and for other miscellaneous "have too do" then when the school re-opened it would start with a $25 million dollar reserve fund. 
 
I have other benefits and I definitely have some drawbacks as well.  But I was thinking as long as some school board members could propose goofy ideas then why not start a discussion that was really outside the box.  I'll tell you more of what I'm thinking if you tell me what you're thinking.
 
 By the way; letting the state take over the school is not as goofy if 70% of the other school districts were to take the same stance, but even then it's still mostly goofy.   

I think that every business in Huber, with a store front and cash registers, should charge 1 cent per transaction and that money goes towards the schools. That might be a huge number and it could help lead to the removal of property taxes being the main way to finance the school system. I mention cash registers because some businesses like the hospital or insurance agencies should simply be excluded. Walmart, Target, and restaurants already collect taxes so it would not be that difficult or expensive to implement.

I don't know the legality or what laws would have to be changed for a consumption tax, but who would really complain over 1 cent?

My second point would be that the school budget would have to require 30% of the budget go directly to the students (books, building costs, activities, sports, etc). That leaves 70% for salaries and benefits. If Huber thrives econimically, the staff might make more money than now, but the opposite could also happen. They might make less money some years.

Hope this isn't too crazy of an idea.

I raised 3 children in Huber Heights. They went to Huber Heights Schools. One of the attractions of real estate in Huber Heights has to be the various services such as schools, police, fire, and others.
I am all for alternate funding for the schools. We need a better way to fund all the schools, not just Huber Schools.
In normal times, the value of a house is likely to go up 4.5% per year. Since 2007. the price of housing has been going down at a steady rate. This creates a problem with financing our schools with a tax rate that is going down. Ask any mailman. They will tell you that Real Estate is going into foreclosures at record rates. That there are many foreclosed properties right here in Huber. So finding a different and fairer way to support the schools should be a major priority. There is something very wrong with people's incomes right now. Discretionary income is way down and that means people will vote down millage for a school system simply because they feel they cannot afford it. In normal times people support their schools. How many levies have gone down t defeat in recent times?
Some people are for it because they do not pay for it directly. Got news, it is paid for in your rent, with the exception of government housing in section 8.
Yet we are paying those teachers less than they would make as a babysitter per child.
We have to come up with a better way of paying for our schools than a real estate market that is way down and not supporting the schools like it would normally.

I agree with Dave that the funding for schools has to change. Real estate taxes do not cut it. The schools tried a few years ago to get an income tax. I am definitely against that.

I had a conversation with the last superintendent, Mr. Kirby, when the teachers were on strike. He told me a few things which somewhat bothered me. He wanted an endless income for the schools which would mean that they would never have to ask for any levys. I said that takes away any public accountability that the schools have. He ignored my comment/ question about that. Second, he said during a strike that he wanted the best deal possible for the teachers because he used to be in the same union and they were his friends. I told him he was responsible to the citizens of Huber and not the union. Again another ignored response.

Go to www.buckeyeinstitute.org and check out the teacher salaries and their retirement packages. It is a few more dollars than babysitting money. This website breaks down the salaries by schools and names.