SHADYSIDE — Shadyside Local School District is asking voters to renew a levy that has been supporting its operations since 1990.

The purpose of the levy is to fund current operating expenses of the district. The Belmont County auditor estimates the 5-mill, five-year measure would collect $491,000 annually and would cost taxpayers $175 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value of their property. It would first be due in 2026.

The district must ask voters to renew the levy every five years. Because it already is in place, approval of the levy will not raise property taxes.

The funds it generates help to pay the district’s bills for utilities, for staff, for social workers, etc., according to Superintendent John Haswell.

“People should vote yes on this levy so we can maintain what we have right now,” he said. “It brings in close to $490,000 so if we lost that, that would be a lot of cuts that would have to be made. So what it helps us do is to maintain our status quo.”

The levy has passed on every ballot since 1990, and it helps the district maintain staff and services it has currently, including bus drivers, cooks, every employee in the district, teachers, aides, outside social workers for each building, psychologists, and bills for water, heating and electricity.

Haswell said it’s important for the district that voters pass this levy because every employee is impacted by it, and it helps fund all of the district’s services. He noted that without the money, cuts would have to be made that could include staff cuts.

Haswell emphasized this levy does not raise taxes or generate more money than the district already receives.

Haswell also pointed out that another operating levy was allowed to expire, saving taxpayers money. In 2012, he said, the district was in financial straits, prompting it to seek an emergency operating levy that the community voted to pass. This resulted in the district getting more local tax money during the four years of that levy’s term. The district ended up not renewing that levy because it promised the community the money would only be used to help the district bridge a gap until it received more state aid.

“We needed help for four years on an operational levy. We got better, more state aid, and we did not renew it, so it came off the books …” he said. “We don’t want to try to break our community over the operating finances. We’ve kept our word in the past that we let a four-year emergency levy go and did not try to renew it because we were doing better.”

Haswell stressed, though, that the levy that is on the Nov. 5 ballot is crucial for the operating budget.