Tri-Rivers Career Center seeks approval of a 1.3-mill renewal levy for current operating expenses.
According to the Union County Auditor, the cost to taxpayers remains the same as the existing levy, $20.98 per $100,000 of property value per year.
Collection for the renewal begins in 2023.
As this is a renewal levy, Tri-Rivers Career Center’s “budget is already based upon” the revenue, said North Union Local Schools Treasurer and CFO Scott Maruniak.
“As treasurers, we assume that any levies that we currently have on the books are going to continue to be renewed because that’s money already coming on in to us,” Maruniak said. “We’re assuming that it’s going to continue on, even though we know we have to go to the voters. That’s an assumption we’re allowed to do by state law.”
The levy will bring more than $1.7 million in revenue to Tri-Rivers annually from the North Union school district in Union County as well as school districts in Crawford, Delaware, Hardin, Marion and Morrow counties.
“Without that, it could devastate their operating budget,” Maruniak said. “I don’t know what percentage that is of their operating budget, but $1.7 million is a lot of money.”
In a statement to the Marysville Journal-Tribune on Tuesday, Tammi Cowell, treasurer and CFO of Tri-Rivers, said about 15% of the “general fund operating budget is represented in this renewal levy.”
“These funds will be used to continue our daily operations which include academic teachers, career tech instructors, support staff, supplies, technology, utilities, maintenance, repairs and updates at the career center,” explained Tri-Rivers Superintendent Charles Speelman.
Tri-Rivers has been training skilled professionals since 1976.
“The education of our students is a partnership with each of our associate schools and their communities,” Speelman and Cowell wrote in a joint statement.
They said a strong educational system “improves property values and helps communities succeed.”
“Tri-Rivers is an extension of the learning opportunities provided at our associate schools. Career technical education is costly, but extremely valuable and important to the communities we serve,” they wrote. “A Tri-Rivers education is a great value to taxpayers; however, without this levy we cannot provide state-of-the-art labs and equipment to train our students to become work-ready graduates for real jobs in Marion, Morrow, and Union counties.”
Currently, 73 North Union students are enrolled in Tri-Rivers, which is about 12% of the 588 student population this academic year.
High school students at Tri-Rivers are enrolled in career programs including automotive technology, agriculture and industrial power technology, computer networking electronics, construction trades, cosmetology, criminal justice, culinary arts, engineering technologies and welding at RAMTEC, interactive media, esthetics, nail tech, veterinary science, health care, exercise science and sports medicine.
Additionally, the center offers a high school diploma program to help adults earn a diploma and welding certification that is fully funded by the state with no cost to students.
Tri-Rivers also offers adult education programs in industrial maintenance, welding, fabrication and allied processes, paramedicine, workforce development, practical nursing, patient care tech, RAMTEC robotics, precision machining, programmable logic controllers (PLC) and hydraulics.
Furthermore, students can enroll in a licensed practical nurse (LPN) to registered nurse (RN) diploma program.
North Union Board of Education member Shelly Ehret, who represents Tri-Rivers, said the center’s programs work well with North Union’s programs in nursing and engineering.
North Union High School’s pre-nursing healthcare program allows students to complete prerequisites for the Tri-Rivers nursing program, Richard George, director of adult education at Tri-Rivers, told the North Union Board of Education during its meeting on Monday.
He added that the most on-demand job in Ohio for the past few years has been registered nurses.
“From an adult education standpoint, we’re here to support the local community,” George said.
Tri-Rivers partners with local businesses and corporations such as Honda and Whirlpool to provide training to students to help them excel in the current job market.
Over 90 percent of Tri-Rivers graduates have gone on to enter the local workforce, enlist in the military, partake in apprenticeship programs and/or continue their education in two-year or four-year colleges.
“The nice thing about Tri-Rivers is you can’t go to a squad or a hospital or a nursing home around without encountering our graduates,” George said.