Ohio school leaders tell Ways and Means committee HB 335 would strip inflationary local revenue and force cuts

Superintendents from Licking Heights and Springboro told the House Ways and Means Committee on Oct. 31 that House Bill 335 would reduce locally generated inflationary revenue and threaten services for students.

Kevin Miller, superintendent of Licking Heights Local Schools, said his district has grown rapidly to about 5,400 students and now relies on modest "inside mill" growth to absorb rising costs. "We would see an annual loss of $280,000," Miller said, describing how the bill would limit the only remaining inflationary property-tax growth the district presently receives.

Tara Stacy, treasurer/CFO for Springboro Community City Schools, said Springboro would lose nearly $2,000,000 and would likely cut about 27 positions if the bill were adopted as written. "House Bill 3 35 would mean a loss of nearly $2,000,000, or about 27 positions," Stacy said. She added that the bill does not backfill lost revenue from the state and urged lawmakers to use the state’s rainy day fund for tax relief rather than cutting schools.

Both witnesses described their districts’ demographics and cost pressures. Miller said Licking Heights’ student population is more diverse and includes almost 20% English-language learners and more than 56% economically disadvantaged students. Stacy told the committee Springboro is one of the lower-spending districts in the state but has high needs; she said the district’s cash reserves are forecast to fall from 79 days to 44 days.

Committee members pressed witnesses on tradeoffs, asking whether districts had considered alternative revenue structures such as an income tax and how House Bill 920 (the property tax law referred to during testimony) and other prior reforms shaped current funding dynamics. Miller and Stacy said they would prefer reforms that protect taxpayer affordability while preserving stable school funding and warned that rolling back locally anticipated revenue could force cuts to classroom services, special education and extracurricular programs.

The committee heard technical clarifications from Representative Thomas about how the bill would allow some new-construction growth between revaluations while limiting spikes at a revaluation year; witnesses said those mechanics did not eliminate the projected cut under the pending language.

No formal votes were taken during the hearing. Chairman Romer closed the fourth hearing on House Bill 335 after taking the in-person testimony and additional written testimony submitted for the record.