West Geauga board told state funding, levy changes could cost district millions

West Geauga Local School District finance staff told the board on Monday that proposed changes in the Ohio legislature to the school funding formula and local levy rules could reduce district revenue and force new levy decisions.

The district’s presenter said the Senate’s substitute to House Bill 96 would continue the Fair School Funding Plan final phase-in but would not update base input increases, leaving base costs frozen at 2021 levels while adding a new layer of performance-based funding tied to state report-card results.

The presentation matters because the bill would also change how local levies are counted and replace some longstanding fixed-fee emergency and substitute levies with continuing operating levies, a shift that the presenter said could remove about $6,000,000 the district currently raises through emergency levies — roughly 25% of salaries and benefits — and cost taxpayers more because replacement levies would be new continuing levies without rollback relief.

“We get $6,000,000 through those emergency levies, so if those are now eliminated ...…