January 20, 2011
Village: No estate tax, no problem By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Some communities in central Ohio are scrambling to patch holes in their budgets in case the state legislature repeals the estate tax. But, local officials say, New Albany is not one of them. “It really does depend on the community,” said Scott McAfee, commu-
nications director for New Albany. “A community like Upper Arlington is going to be greatly impacted. I think they get in excess of seven figures a year. … In 2010, we budgeted $100,000 and actually didn’t get any.” In New Albany, even though several residents have estates with estimated high taxable values, the village typically does not count on large revenues from the estate taxes.
“The 2011 budget for estate tax revenues is zero,” McAfee said. “It’s not zero because we necessarily expected the state get rid of it; it’s zero because our revenues were zero in 2010 and we figured not to assume anything for 2011. “If you go back, we’ve budgeted around $100,000 in past and have been somewhat close to that (in estate tax revenues). But it’s never been a big revenue generating thing for New Albany.”
Commonly known as the “death tax,” the estate tax was enacted in 1968, according to information from the Ohio Department of Taxation. Under current law, when a state resident dies and his or her estate has a taxable value of more than $338,333 and less than $500,000, a 6-percent tax is owed. Estates with a taxable value of more than $500,000 are taxed at 7 percent. Estates with a taxable value
under $338,333 are exempt from paying the tax. The estate tax is paid to the treasurer of the county where the resident lived. Local governments share the tax, with municipalities and townships receiving 80 percent and the state receiving 20 percent. Ohio’s estate tax generated $333.8See ESTATE TAX, page A3
FRRC eyes financial profiles of similar districts By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Members of the financial review and reporting committee (FRRC) learned Jan. 18 that while the New Albany-Plain Local School District’s operational costs do not appear out of line compared to other districts, the district still can look to save money in the future. The FRRC heard a report from its consultants that conducted an external evaluation of the district’s finances. According to K-12 Business Consulting Inc. of Dublin, “while the district does appear to be well managed and efficient in the comparison data, any organization can do better and tighten operations.” Jeff Warner, the district’s communications director, said the FRRC reviewed the report and will continue their review at the committee’s next meeting. Some areas the consultants suggested for cost savings included: increasing student to teacher ratios; reducing or “holding the line on average costs for certified and classified employee wages;” reducing administrative costs to comparison group averages; reducing building operating costs to an average of the district’s peer groups; and increasing transportation efficiency. The report also identified several areas where the district is receiving “a positive return on investment for expenditures.” According to the report, these included: general fund projections and unreserved fund balance management; revenue over expenditures with positive cash contribution to ending unreserved cash balance; cost of per-pupil management;
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
William Barker, a Thomas Jefferson impersonator for Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, speaks and answers questions in character for Jim Morgan’s eighth-grade class at New Albany Middle School on Jan. 13. He was part of the McCoy Lecture Series conducted by Ed Chappell, director of architectural and archaeological research with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and, in addition to the formal lecture, appeared at the middle school, New Albany High School and several other central Ohio schools and organizations last week.
‘Jefferson’ pays visit to local schools By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Local students received a detailed United States history lesson last week from an unlikely source — one of the nation’s Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson. William Barker, who impersonates the third president of the United States at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, visited the district campus and spoke to students in character while he was in New Albany as part of an adult lec-
ture series at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts. Barker and Ed Chappell, director of architectural and archaeological research with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, kicked off the series with a program that documented similarities between one of the earliest examples of a planned community — Williamsburg, Va. — and the modern principles of planning at work in New Albany. The New Albany Community Foundation organized the McCoy Lecture Series, which will feature more guest speakers each of the next three months.
Chappell and Barker’s program included the impersonator’s visits to local schools. Taking Jefferson’s persona, Barker taught everything from how the United States established individual rights and freedoms and established its independence to different aspects of colonial culture. During a visit to New Albany Middle School Jan. 13, he began his presentation by explaining how people dressed and behaved during the late 18th century and early 19th century. See JEFFERSON, page A4
See FINANCIAL PROFILES, page A2
NAHS students receive award for work with computers
Resident appointed to state board of education
By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers They don’t fit the traditional stereotype, but New Albany High School senior Hayley Montgomery and junior Katherine Miller are self-professed computer geeks. “I bounce around in glitter on the football field and can put a hard drive in a computer,” Montgomery joked, noting she was captain of the drill team and a member of the Digital Network Assistants (DNA) program. Students in the DNA program spend all summer rebuilding district computers so the new machines are ready for students, teachers and administrators the first day of school. Miller said her foray into computer technology is more natural. She claims to be a “more traSee NAHS STUDENTS, page A3
By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Lori Wince/ThisWeek
New Albany High School junior Katherine Miller (left) and senior Hayley Montgomery are two of 10 girls in Ohio to receive the National Center for Women and Information Technology Award for Aspirations in Computing. The two will receive their awards April 2 at a location yet to be announced. They will receive engraved awards for their homes and school, as well as prizes donated by local sponsors.
DIRECTORY News: (740) 888-6100 editorial@thisweeknews.com Sports: (740) 888-6054 sports@thisweeknews.com Retail ads: (740) 888-6017 rgibson@thisweeknews.com Classified: (740) 888-5003 classified@thisweeknews.com Customer Service: 1-888-837-4342
Nemo, who was rescued from a hoarding situation, is up for adoption from the Ohio SPCA. To see a video of Nemo and Scamp, another cat looking for a home, log on to www.ThisWeekNews. com. For more information on Nemo, visit ohiospca.org.
Gov.-elect John Kasich selected another New Albany to serve the state by appointing C. Todd Jones to the state board of education Jan. 18. “The state board is the policy-making body for K-12 education,” Jones said. “I think this is a valuable opportunity to improve K-12 education in the state of Ohio.” Jones is the president and general counsel of the Association on Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO), a position he has held since 2005. Prior to See RESIDENT, page A2
food and wine expand your tastes Presented by:
Visit ThisWeekNews.com/foodandwine