Officials of two of Toledo's largest suburban school districts - Maumee and Bedford - breathed a sigh of relief last night as voters approved new levies.

Maumee residents agreed to pay additional taxes to prevent what was expected to be severe budget cuts, and Bedford voters approved higher taxes to replace old boilers and install new roofs on schools.

By a margin of 1,968 to 1,516, voters approved a 3.9-mill operating levy for Maumee City Schools that is expected to generate more than $1.9 million a year for a continuing period.

"This means that by watching every penny we will be financially sound for the next two school years," said an elated Greg Smith, Maumee superintendent. "We're still going to have to watch every penny. We're still going to have to make some of the cuts we talked about - not replacing retirees, looking at other ways to save money - but this helps keep us in good financial straits for the next two years."

In November, Maumee voters defeated a 5.9-mill levy, which the board decided to reduce this time around in an attempt to make it more palatable to voters.

"I think the smaller amount helped," Mr. Smith said. "I think the tremendous number of volunteers we had to get the message out going door to door helped.

Words can't describe how thankful we are."

He said he did not yet know whether the board would be able to rehire any of the eight teachers and two librarians whose jobs were eliminated last month. "Everything is going to be reviewed again," he said.

Voters in Bedford Township yesterday approved a temporary five-year, 0.50-mill "sinking fund" levy for Bedford Public Schools, the proceeds of which will be used to address some of the district's most pressing maintenance and school building repairs.

The levy, which will generate about $527,000 annually and cost the owner of a $150,000 home about $37.50 a year, will be used for roof work, asbestos removal, and replacement of heating systems.

The property tax was approved 3,751 to 2,427.

Josh Little, chairman of a committee formed to get the levy passed, thanked township voters for what he called an overwhelming show of support for the schools in the township.

"Now we will not have to worry about roofs that leak, boilers that are over 40 years old, and paying for removal and abatement of asbestos in our elementary schools," said Mr. Little. "This is an amazing, huge testament to the community and the support it has for the school district."

The $2.6 million that would be collected over the five years will finance replacement of old boilers at the high school and Smith Road Elementary and removal of asbestos flooring at the high school, Jackman Road, Douglas Road, and Temperance Road elementary schools.

It will also pay for $1.885 million in roofing replacement work at the high school, junior high, and Temperance Road Elementary.

The news was not nearly as good for Otsego Local Schools in Tontogany, where voters rejected a 5-mill, five-year emergency operating levy that would have raised just under $1.1 million a year.

Vote totals from Wood and Lucas counties show the levy failed 1,584 to 733.

"It wasn't close. I guess the message is we need to do with what we've got," said Superintendent Jim Garber.

The school board had agreed it would not close any of the district's three elementary schools for next school year if the levy passed. With its defeat, it's likely either Weston or Haskins Elementary will be closed and sixth graders moved to the junior high school in Tontogany in the fall.

Mr. Garber said the board could make that decision as early as

7 a.m. today when it's scheduled to meet.

"Obviously these are tough times for folks, and I think what we have to do is just do the best we can with less money," he said. "We made 'excellent' status for the first time last year, and we were very happy with that. Unfortunately, a year from now we'll be looking at additional cuts."

Also yesterday,

•Bowling Green City Schools voters said no to the school board's request to double the 0.5-percent income tax they currently pay for school operations. It failed by a vote of 3,396 to 1,699.

The five-year, 1 percent income tax was expected to generate $1 million a year - twice what the tax now generates - to maintain existing programs and services in the schools.

•Also in Wood County, a building project in the North Baltimore Local Schools appears to have failed a second time. By a close 531-to-527 margin, voters defeated a combined bond issue and income tax that would have paid the local share of a $22 million building project.

The 7.57-mill bond issue and 0.25 percent income tax, which also was defeated last November, would have generated nearly $10 million over 28 years to help pay for a new middle and high school on Rudolph Road and to renovate Powell Elementary School. The Ohio Schools Facilities Commission would have paid some $12.1 million toward the project.

•Northwood Local Schools voters approved a 1.75-mill permanent improvement levy that is expected to generate about $224,000 a year for a continuing period. The levy, which was approved 225 to 208, takes the place of a 2.5-mill permanent improvement levy that voters had been asked to renew every five years.

•In Fulton County, voters in Pike-Delta-York school district decisively rejected a 0.75 percent, five-year earned income tax intended to raise about $900,000 a year. The issue failed 1,040 to 465.

The new tax would have been levied against wages and salaries, but not income sources like pensions. The district had hoped the tax would have made up for income lost by Ohio's phase-out of the tangible personal property tax collected from businesses.

•In Lucas County, Springfield Local Schools voters handily renewed a 1.35-mill, five-year permanent improvement levy that generates $1.05 million a year for building repairs and school bus, techonology, and textbook purchases. It passed 1,245 to 944.

•Voters in the Genoa Local Schools in Ottawa County agreed to renew a 1.8-mill, five-year permanent improvement levy that raises $160,000 annually. It passed 437 to 272.

Staff Writer Mark Reiter contributed to this report.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at:

jfeehan@theblade.com

or 419-724-6129.

First Published May 6, 2009, 7:03 p.m.