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School board warns state bills could destabilize Sidney City schools
Summary
At a regular meeting the Sidney City School Board spent much of its session on a legislative briefing and warned that two state bills — House Bill 96 and House Bill 335 — contain provisions that could sharply reduce local school funding and make passing levies harder.
The Sidney City School Board devoted a large portion of its meeting to a legislative update Thursday, with members and staff warning that changes in the Ohio General Assembly could substantially reduce local school funding.
A presenter told the board that the Ohio Senate amended House Bill 96 and sent it to a conference committee; the legislature must finalize a budget and send it to the governor by June 30. The presenter also flagged House Bill 335, a proposed property-tax reform measure that "eliminates inside village" levies, removes the ability to renew emergency or substitute levies and would combine prior proposals to change how property taxes are levied, limited and allocated.
"Everything that could possibly go wrong with public school funding is in this bill," the chair said, characterizing parts of the proposal as potentially "devastating" for public school districts.
Board members described one provision that could require a 60% approval threshold for school levies, up from the current 50% plus one, and said that change alone would make most levy campaigns unlikely to succeed. Members also noted provisions that would remove the rollover/rollback on some new levies and force previously renewable emergency levies to be treated as new levies.
Board members and staff said those changes would shift more cost onto taxpayers in some years and could leave districts with fewer predictable revenue tools, forcing districts to either seek additional levies, reduce services or pursue other options. One board member said many residents are unaware the bills are under consideration and urged more public communication.
Why it matters: The board said the combination of measure changes could reduce locally controlled funding and complicate routine levy renewals. The presenter cautioned that parts of the property-tax bill could be folded into the final budget and noted the legislature’s end-of-fiscal-year deadline.
What’s next: Board members did not vote on a formal resolution at the meeting but discussed outreach to make parents and taxpayers aware of the proposals. The board scheduled its next regular meeting for July 21.
