A levy on the November ballot could help Alexander Local Schools pay back property taxes owed to a firm since 1991.

The Alexander Local Board of Education is asking the public to support a 0.5 percent income tax levy to help maintain general operation and begin a series of payments of back taxes to Texas Eastern Transmission Corp.

Alexander schools in Athens County, along with 20 other counties in Ohio, are responsible for payments to Texas Eastern. The company filed an appeal in 1991 after a state re-evaluation of the property. The company was paying higher property taxes than the property was worth. That money was then distributed to the schools because of a property tax levy.

The Ohio Supreme Court awarded $154,150 to Texas Eastern for back property taxes in 1991, which the school district began paying in May of this year, said Athens County Auditor David Lovett. The school district also will be responsible for back taxes from 1992-1996. The school district may have to pay more than $700,000, Lovett said.

The county could have reduced Texas Eastern's taxes or have the school district pay the back taxes within the next five years.

"The schools are running tough and tight anyway. This situation doesn't help," Lovett said.

The school board decided to propose the income tax levy because of a failed property tax levy in 1995. The 0.5 percent income tax levy is the equivalent of almost 5 mills of property tax, said Alexander Local Schools Superintendent Bob Bray.

"We chose the income tax levy because it is more fair. It is not prejudiced against those who own a lot of property," said Alexander High School Principal Greg Holbert.

The levy, if passed, would help alleviate the deficit Alexander schools are facing from the court ruling. The levy would raise $450,000 each year, Bray said. This money would be used to maintain general operations, supplies and help with payments to Texas Eastern.

"There was legislation to help those who were affected by the Texas Eastern appeal, but Gov. Voinovich vetoed it," Bray said.

"We could probably remain solvent without the levy, but Texas Eastern was a big blow and very costly for us," Holbert said. "We're running on a frugal operation as it is."

Holbert defined "frugal" as not spending money on the school library, surviving on the basics, eliminating the hiring of experienced teachers, spending no money on technology and not spending above what the state allots for textbooks.

"For a long period of time we have been very frugal with money. We've operated successfully without any fancy means," Holbert said. "Now we need money just to operate frugally."

"If students want to have the chance to compete in the workplace, it is essential to pass this levy," he said.