June 21, 2007

Financial losses to YS still unclear

By Diane Chiddister

The financial effects on Yellow Springs from last week’s Antioch University Board of Trustees’ decision to close Antioch College remain unclear, according to Village Manager Eric Swansen in an interview last week and at the June 18 meeting of Village Council.

What is clear, though, is that the Village will experience financial loss.

“I can tell you now, the Village will have to do with less revenue as a result,” he said.

Last week, the trustees announced that, due to a deepening financial crisis, the college will close July 1, 2008, with the intention of reopening in 2012.

The most direct result will be the loss of municipal income tax from the Antioch College staff. The municipal income tax, paid by those who work in the village, funds about 40 to 45 percent of the Village’s general fund, which finances police, streets, parks and recreation and many other Village services.

What’s unclear is exactly how many college employees will lose their jobs on July 1, 2008, when the college will officially close. The college has about 160 employees, but some employees will stay on. At a meeting of the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce last week, Antioch University Chancellor Toni Murdock said the college will continue to employ some of its maintenance, security and library staffs, along with some administrative positions. The Antioch College library will remain open, since the library serves the entire university system, she said. However, she also said the details regarding numbers of employees have not yet been determined. The fate of the Antioch College gym is also unclear at this point.

WYSO Public Radio is already under the umbrella of Antioch University rather than the college, so its staff will be unaffected, according to Murdock. And Glen Helen’s staff will also continue on the job, according to Glen Helen Ecology Institute Director Nick Boutis in an interview this week. The Glen, currently a part of the college, will become a university operation for the time being, he said.

“The Glen is stable. There is no closing of any of its operations or of the Outdoor Education Center,” he said.

The future of the recently-opened Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom is also unclear at this point, according to King Center Director Dana Patterson.

Swansen said he hopes to meet with Antioch College President Steven Lawry soon to determine exact numbers.

The village will also almost certainly suffer from some population loss due to the closing, although it’s too soon to determine how much, Swansen said.

Village utility use will be affected, since Antioch University as a whole accounts for 8 percent of the Village’s electrical use, according to Swansen. However, it’s not clear how much of that use is tied to the college and how much to the university, so that effect also remains unclear.

Unfortunately, the Village is faced with deciding whether to buy into new electric generating capacity before the end of the year, and must do so without knowing whether Antioch College will reopen, as trustees say they intend, in 2012.

“It puts us in a difficult position,” Swansen said. Underestimating the amount of future energy needed will force the Village to purchase more power on the open market, where prices are more volatile, he said.

While some local businesses will be directly affected by the loss of Antioch students and faculty in 2008, others, especially service-oriented businesses, will be indirectly affected, he said at Village Council’s June 18 meeting.

Most important, he said, is the immediate distress of Antioch faculty, staff and students.

“I think right now what strikes me the most is that we have neighbors and friends” who are losing their jobs, he said.

Due to the financial uncertainty, the Village will not, for the time being, fill seven positions which are currently open, according to Swansen.

“We need to be cautious,” he said.

Also at Monday night’s meeting, Council member Judith Hempfling made a statement which requests that the Antioch University Board of Trustees include the Village in planning for the college’s future.

“We are a potential resource and have at least as much at stake as does the College,” she said.

The Village needs to do whatever it can to support the reopening of the college, Swansen said.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com