Willoughby-Eastlake board warns state budget changes could undercut local school funding

Jamie Schatzman, vice president and legislative liaison for the Willoughby-Eastlake Board of Education, told the board on June 9 that the Senate version of the state biennial budget (substitute House Bill 96) reintroduces language on a 20-mill ‘‘floor’’ that could have disproportionate impacts on the district’s local funding.

"The Willoughby-Eastlake School District is the 30th largest in the state of Ohio. We serve seven municipalities and educate roughly 7,000 students per year with a $111,000,000 annual operating budget," Schatzman said as she read the testimony the district submitted to the Ohio Senate Finance Committee.

Nut graf: Schatzman said the district relies heavily on time-limited emergency levies that the community has repeatedly approved; she warned that the Senate language, if enacted as written and applied retroactively, could strip away revenue the district planned to use for capital improvements, curriculum and programming and would leave little time to adapt.

Schatzman told the board that Willoughby-Eastlake is on the 20-mill floor for Class 1 residential property and that four of the district’s five levies were approved before 2013 and therefore qualify for homestead and rollback credits. She said the district last sought new or additional operating funds at the ballot in 2019 and that a 2020 emergency levy produces about $8,500,000 per year for a 10-year period.

Schatzman recommended ways the Legislature could avoid unintended harm to districts like Willoughby-Eastlake: convert emergency levies to current operating levies so homestead and rollback credits are preserved; make any change to the 20-mill calculation forward-looking instead of retroactive; allow school boards mechanisms to target tax relief to Class 1 residential properties; or send the change to voters before implementation.

She also said the district submitted written testimony last week and received acknowledgments from Representative Troy’s office and Senator Cerino’s office. "I or our treasurer, Mr. Charnello, would be happy to provide additional financial information about our annual expenditures, the average cost to educate a student in Willoughby-Eastlake, our current cash balance, our forecast, and our capital improvement plan," she said.

Discussion: Board members asked clarifying questions about cash-balance and related budget language. Schatzman and Treasurer Nick Charnello explained recent budget-writing changes the board has been tracking, including a higher cash-balance threshold (30% to 50% in committee drafts) and language strengthening the authority of the budget commission to limit levy placements if a district is above a prescribed threshold.

Outcome and next steps: The testimony is on record with the Senate Finance Committee; board members said they will continue to monitor committee action, submit supplemental testimony if needed and work with Representative Troy and their senators if the budget proceeds to conference committee.

Ending: Schatzman closed by urging the Legislature to give districts time to adapt if changes are necessary and offering the district’s staff as resources for committee members seeking specifics.