Ohio University and other state-assisted universities had begun to tighten their budget belts in late spring in the wake of the convincing defeat of Issue 2 by Ohio voters during the May 5 election. The issue called for increasing the state sales t ax from 5 cents on a dollar to 6 cents and raising $550 million a year in new funding for primary and secondary school operating costs, technology and building improvements.
Issue 2 was part of the Ohio Legislature's solution to the public school funding problem. The Ohio Supreme Court called for an overhaul in the school funding formula, claiming the current system was too reliant on local property taxes and created funding inequities between districts.
Eighty percent of those who went to the polls voted against the passage of Issue 2. OU President Robert Glidden, who led the statewide higher education effort in favor of Issue 2, said he expects the negative outcome of the school funding issue to bring about at least a "slowdown" in hiring and new initiatives at the university.
Glidden says the full force of the budget tightening probably won't be felt until the 1999-2000 fiscal year.
OU's Board of Trustees was scheduled to approve the 1998-99 budget and tuition and fee i ncreases at its meeting June 26-27, after Ohio University Today went to print.
