Westerville superintendent warns 25% cash-balance cap would force cuts, annual levies

Angie Hamburg, superintendent of the Westerville City School District, testified April 8 before the Ohio House Finance Committee that a proposed amendment that would permit the auditor to suspend property tax collections for any district with a cash balance over 25% would be "catastrophic" for many districts and would force repeated ballot levies and major cuts to programming.

Hamburg said Westerville serves nearly 15,000 students across multiple municipalities and employs nearly 2,000 staff. She gave demographic and fiscal context: about 16% of students receive special education services, 23% are identified gifted, nearly 11% are English learners, and more than 43% of students and families are economically disadvantaged. She said the district is not on the 20-mill floor established under prior law (referred to in testimony as House Bill 920) and that part of the district’s higher-than-usual cash balance resulted from temporarily paying positions with federal ESSER grant funds.

Hamburg said the district is deficit spending across the forecast and used cash to cover a $4,000,000 reduction in state funding this school year; she told the committee that without that cash the district could not meet recurring obligations. She described a five-year forecast in which the district’s cash balance and reductions keep the district “in the black until 2029.” Under the amendment she described, her treasurer predicts the district would “quickly run out of cash” and would have to make major program cuts or return to voters frequently.

Members asked detailed questions. Hamburg said Westerville spends about $638,000 a day and that salaries and benefits account for about 82% of the district’s budget. When Representative Young asked about the district’s budget and carryover, the committee record includes an exchange in which the district’s budget was cited at about $233,000,000 and Hamburg said "we're about 161" (units not specified in the testimony). Hamburg also said the district maintains a credit balance of $25,000,000 in expedited local partnership credits with the Ohio Facilities Commission, and that the district’s last bond sale carried an AAA rating; she said rating agencies consider deficits and cash when evaluating creditworthiness.

Hamburg and members highlighted rising costs for special education services: she said Westerville added eight specialized learning classrooms at the elementary level this year to meet demand, described increases in students with severe behavioral and medical needs, and said some placements and transports to outside providers can cost six figures per student.

Hamburg asked the committee to consider the operational realities behind year-end cash balances and to distinguish cash held for recurring obligations from money that could be used for one-time projects. She said abruptly eliminating that cash would force cuts to technology, curricular materials, maintenance and other day-to-day operations.

No committee motion or formal vote followed the testimony; Hamburg’s remarks were part of the committee’s ongoing hearings on the state operating bill.