ROSSFORD – Rossford Schools is asking voters to support two renewal levies that will lower taxes.

On Tuesday, two 6.9-mill levies will appear on the ballot for renewal for five years.

Both levies are currently collecting 7.9 mills.

For the owner of a median-valued home, this would be a savings of $99 annually, or nearly $500 for the life of the levy.

The median home value in Rossford is $142,000, according to Treasurer James Rossler.

Superintendent Dan Creps said the school board has pledged to evaluate every levy as it comes up for renewal.

“We were in a strong financial position,” he said.

“In keeping that pledge to the community, we can do it,” Creps said about lowering collection.

Each 6.9-mill levy will collect in excess of $2.47 million, Rossler said.

Each levy currently collects $2.84 million, which will mean an annual drop of $372,000 in collection from each.

The school board in December voted 5-0 to lower the collected tax rate.

Of the levies, one was first approved in 1991 and the other in 2002.

“They’ve been a part of the budget process for quite some time, and we’ve been fortunate they’ve been renewed every five years since their passage,” Creps said.

The money collected from these levies goes into the general fund to provide student programming and staffing. Passage of the levies would allow the district to keep the school resource officer for each building, a school-family liaison and reading intervention specialist, according to a district’s levy information page.

“They are not in immediate jeopardy,” Creps said about these programs.

“The one thing we always try to make sure voters understand, if these two levies are not renewed, the district is faced with difficult choices to fill the $4 million hole if the levies expire.”

Lower utility and repair costs from the district’s new facilities have helped lower operating costs.

Those lower costs did not play a role in the decision to lower collection, Rossler said.

“We looked at our five-year forecast and it dictated we could do this,” he said.

The district gets enterprise zone funds from Amazon, First Solar, Walgreens and FedEx, but those payments go into a special revenue fund and are not used for operating costs.

Enterprise zone money, which amounts to $1.5 million a year, has been used for facility upgrades; $17.5 million will be used to fund a future multi-use facility near Rossford Elementary on Lime City Road that will provide space for clubs, e-sports, athletics, STEM and extra-curricular activities.