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Elyria treasurer warns five-year forecast shows widening deficit; board told to prepare levy for November
Summary
Treasurer Colleen Adpolt presented a May five-year forecast showing expenses outpacing revenues and a projected negative cash balance by fiscal 2029; the board was advised to place a 4.9-mill, 10-year operating levy on the November ballot and to adopt required resolutions on June 4 and June 25.
Colleen Adpolt, Elyria City School District treasurer, presented the district’s May five-year forecast at the May 21 board meeting and warned that rising expenses combined with lagging revenue growth will push the district toward deficit spending by fiscal year 2029.
Adpolt said local property-tax revenue rose after a recent reappraisal — Elyria City School is on a 20-mill floor — but that state funding will fall as local collections ramp up. "Overall, it's a net decrease," she said, summarizing a forecast that shows local taxes rising modestly while state distributions decline. Adpolt also noted the district has not yet received full fair school funding at current-year rates; the forecast assumes full funding based on 2022 funding levels.
On the expense side, Adpolt highlighted several pressures, including transportation billing timing and a spike in insurance costs. She said typical insurance increases average 2 percent but that the district’s renewal will show about an 18 percent rate increase this July, and she forecasted ongoing inflationary pressure on salaries and services. Those factors together produce a declining cash-balance trajectory: the district’s cash balance percentages were shown at roughly 38 percent for the current year and 32 percent for the next, declining below common benchmarks by fiscal 2027 and projecting a negative balance by fiscal year 2029.
Because of that outlook, Adpolt told the board she recommends returning to voters in November with the same operating levy that failed on May 6. The recommendation is a 4.9-mill, 10-year operating levy for district educational programs. "June 4 would be the first resolution, and then hopefully, June 25 would be the second resolution to be able to be put on the ballot for November," Adpolt said.
Board members asked clarifying questions. One member noted that becoming "fully funded" under Ohio's fair school funding relates to 2022 funding levels and not 2025 cost levels; Adpolt and other speakers cautioned that inflation and the timing of state budget action could change the district's final state funding. Adpolt said the district has been engaging lawmakers in Columbus about the budget, and she referenced House Bill 96 as the pending state budget bill at the time of the meeting.
The board subsequently approved the treasurer’s recommended May five-year forecast by roll call vote.
Adpolt closed by emphasizing ongoing local cost-management efforts — renegotiating contracts, pursuing grants and using attrition — but said those measures alone would not offset projected deficits and that voter approval of new operating revenue is part of the recommended plan to stabilize finances.
The district will return to the board on June 4 for the first required resolution to place a November levy on the ballot and is scheduled to consider a second resolution on June 25, if the board directs staff to proceed.
