Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council member warns state budget proposal could force more frequent local school levies
Summary
A council member urged residents to contact state Sen. Tom Patton after describing a House proposal that would cap school district reserves at 30%, a change he said could create tax volatility and force more frequent levies for Brooklyn City Schools.
A Brooklyn council member on May 12 said a proposal in the Ohio House to restrict school-district carryover to 30% could force districts to return more frequently to voters for levies and create volatility in property-tax collections.
The council member, speaking from a recent school board work session, described draft language that would limit reserves and require county auditors to increase collections if a district’s reserves dipped below the 30% threshold. He said the House proposal was under consideration by the state Senate and that local superintendents had raised concerns with state Sen. Tom Patton.
The speaker said the change could create a “roller coaster effect” on property taxes because districts often plan levies to cover multiple years. He noted that Brooklyn does not have a permanent improvement levy and that the district transfers $250,000 to a capital fund; under the proposed change those practices could trigger more frequent collection adjustments, he said.
The council member also said that districts’ carryovers were temporarily larger during the COVID era because of one-time ESSER funds, which have since ended, and warned that some districts could be pushed into short-term borrowing if the proposal passes. He encouraged residents to contact state Sen. Tom Patton to express concerns.
No formal council action was taken on this matter during the meeting; the statements were delivered as part of council reports and represented the speaker’s recommendation to constituents.
