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A 7.6 mill operating levy has been placed on the November 2 ballot by the Ottawa Hills Schools. The purpose of this levy is to preserve the current level of education for the district’s students, maintaining the district’s comprehensive curriculum and programs at their present levels. The revenue from this levy will cover day-to-day operating expenses connected to running the school, such as utility costs, salaries and benefits, and classroom supplies. Q. Why do we need to pass an operating levy? A. Because of the state’s school funding mechanism, the district’s revenue stream is flat or declining while its operating expenses are increasing. Without the levy, the school district will not have the necessary funding to cover inflationary increases in regular instruction, technology, maintenance, or utility costs. In addition, the district has incurred increased costs to comply with unfunded mandates from the state such as testing, increased graduation requirements, reporting requirements, and special education requirements. Click to review unfunded and underfunded mandates:
To keep the district in sound financial condition, a levy is needed now. Q. What about state funding? A. Our revenues consist of 71.52% local taxes; 14.11% state aid; 10.87% homestead rollback; and 3.51% from interest income, pay-to-participate, student fees, and donations.
The state funding formula requires a “local share” based on each district’s “ability to pay,” or valuation. Due to the way the formula works, Ottawa Hills will receive only $1,637.77 per pupil in FY ‘11. This is basically the same state aid per pupil that we received in 2005. Our expenditures per pupil in FY 2009 (the most recent available) were $14,323. In other words, the state contributes less than 11.5% of the educational expenses for each child in the Ottawa Hills School District. Our state aid was flat from 2005 to 2009. The district saw a 1% cut in state aid in FY ’10 and a 2% cut in FY ’11. The last state budget was funded with $1.8 billion in one-time funds, such as federal stimulus funds and a loan from the Ohio School Facilities Commission. These funds will not be available when the next state budget is formulated in 2011, and schools across the state are anticipating further, deeper cuts from the state.
Q. How often does the board ask for funds for operations? A. Historically, the district has come back to village residents every three years to seek funding for current operating expenses. This three-year cycle is intended to keep pace with inflation. Q. Why does the district keep coming back to the voters for levies? A. In 1976, the state legislature passed House Bill 920. It prevents any inflationary growth in funding generated by local property taxes without the consent of local taxpayers. Because of H.B. 920, revenue collected from property taxes does not increase as the value of the property increases. For example, a levy passed in 1990 collects no more revenue from a home in the village in 2010 than it did 20 years ago. The bottom line for all Ohio school districts is this: The cost of doing business increases each year, yet revenue does not. For this reason, the district must routinely ask voters to support new levies to keep up with increasing costs and state mandates. When property increases in value, a “rollback” occurs, and millage is reduced. The “voted mills” become “effective mills.” In 1976, when HB 920 was enacted, the district collected 51.10 effective mills for operations. Today, we collect 57.14 effective mills, although the “voted” millage rate is 120.55. To describe the effect of HB 920 another way, although our community has approved a total of 120.55 mills for operations, we are actually collecting only 57.14 effective mills—just over 6 mills more than were collected in 1976. Without HB 920, Ottawa Hills would have never been back on the ballot since 1976. Q. Village properties have generally decreased in value the past few years. How does this impact district revenue? A. Even though the district cannot collect additional revenue when a property increases in value, it does lose revenue when that same property decreases in value. This has meant a loss of approximately $375,000 in revenue in fiscal year 2011 alone. Q. Why is the request for 7.6 mills higher than it has been in the past 10 years? A. A mill is a unit of measurement for taxing a piece of property. Because of the drop in property values in the village, it takes more mills to raise the same amount of money that a lower millage rate would have raised in the past. Basically, it now takes 6.3 mills to raise the same kind of money that 5.5 mills raised in 2007. In addition, the district must make up for lost revenue due to the drop in district valuation. This equals another 2.3 mills. The millage request would have been 8.6 mills, but the board was able to decrease the request by 1 mill due to further budget cuts, which included the teaching staff foregoing a 3% raise due to them in January of 2011. Q. How much money does this levy raise for the district? A. The district budget for FY ’11 is approximately $14.3 million. The levy will raise $1.2 million annually. These funds will preserve our quality programs and keep pace with inflation. Q. I noticed that Springfield Schools is asking for 3.9 mills, which will raise $2,792,368 million for their school district. Why do they get more money for less mills? A. The answer lies in district valuation. A district's valuation is determined by the value of the homes, property, businesses, and industry within the school district. Ottawa Hills has a district valuation of $163,502,860. Therefore, each mill raises $163,503. The Springfield School District has a valuation of $715,992,175. Their valuation is higher because they have much more property, business, and industry in their school district than we do. Therefore, one mill raises $715,992. Larger school districts generally have more residents and businesses to share the tax burden, resulting in lower millage requests and more money for each mill. Q. How does our expenditures per pupil compare with other districts? A. The district is 14th of 612 public school districts in the state for expenditures per pupil. We compare favorably with surrounding districts, particularly when the quality of our school system is taken into account. We also compare favorably with similar districts. Here are some examples: Expenditures per Pupil (FY 2009)
Q. What is the district doing to control costs? A. The district has employed cost saving measures that include reducing general fund budgets by 10% from FY ’10 to FY ’11. These reductions range from professional development to supplies and equipment. In addition, some Permanent Improvement (PI) projects were put on hold or reduced so that the PI account could “pay back” the general account fund for money used for the replacement of the elementary roof in 2005 ($400,000) and the installation of the fourth ball field at the elementary in 2007 ($40,000). Level one budget cuts were enacted during the 2009-2010 school year. Among these cuts were: •Reduction of computer programming at the high school; •Elimination of the reading recovery position at the elementary school; •Reduction of summer intervention for the Ohio Achievement Tests; •Reduction of lunch monitors; •Reduction of after-school detention and Saturday School monitors; •Reduction of a high school custodial position from full-time to part-time; •Reduction of hours for foreign language lab paraprofessionals; •Eliminate one classroom paraprofessional; •Reduce school psychologist from four days/week to three days/week. Level two budget cuts are being enacted for the current school year. Among these cuts are: •Reduce 6th Grade sections from four to three; •Eliminate one custodial position; •Eliminate the Student Assistance Coordinator. In addition to the above measures, the salaries of administrative and central office support staff members have been frozen at 2009 levels. The teaching staff of the district also contributed to cost saving measures by voting to forego a 3% raise which would have been due in January of 2011. Q. What would happen if the 7.6 mill levy did not pass? A. Level three cuts and reductions would have to be made for the 2011-2012 school year if the levy did not pass in November. These cuts and reductions are only recommendations at this point and have not been officially approved by the Board of Education. If the levy does not pass, then the board will have to work with the administrative team and all stakeholders to make official decisions regarding level three cuts and reductions. At this time, the following are considerations for level three reductions: •Eliminate the Chinese language program; •Eliminate Industrial Technology classes for the junior high and high school; •Eliminate high school courses with low
enrollment and review all Advanced Placement courses •Eliminate elementary foreign language; •Increase class sizes for all elementary levels; •Eliminate the LEAP program; •Eliminate 6th Grade camp; •Eliminate the 8th Grade trip; •Eliminate sports and extra-curricular activities with low participation; •Reduce secretarial and paraprofessional hours; •Reduce one administrator to four days/week; •Charge custodial fees to community and outside groups. Q. Will any cuts be necessary if the levy does pass? A. With impending cuts in state funding, even with passage of this levy, the district will have to continue cutting expenses to maintain a positive carry-over balance. Any future cuts will focus on programs and positions that will least impact the academic integrity of our school district and with an eye on maintaining our position as one of the premier school districts in the state and in the nation. Q. Why is the approval of this levy critical for Ottawa Hills Schools? A. There is a direct relationship between the excellence of the school district and the support of the community. Effective Schools research indicates that strong parent/community involvement is an essential characteristic of high achieving schools. The district has earned the state’s highest rating of Excellent and Excellent with Distinction for the past ten years. For the past five years, Ottawa Hills Schools has ranked in the top three of 612 public school systems in the state based on the Performance Index, a measure of student achievement. Ottawa Hills High School has been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, a School of Distinction by the Ohio Department of Education, and one of America’s Top High Schools by Newsweek magazine. These results are not an accident. They are the result of the quality found in our staff, our curriculum, and our programs. In order to preserve this quality, we need your support. The passage of the 7.6 mill levy in November will allow us to maintain desirable class sizes, offer a rigorous, challenging curriculum, hire highly qualified experienced teachers, strengthen intervention and enrichment programs to meet the needs of individual students, provide excellent classroom resources, offer a broad variety of athletic and extra-curricular activities, and meet the community’s high expectations for quality customer service and communication. Quality does not just happen. It is achieved through strong partnerships between the community and school district, careful planning, decision-making, and allocation of resources. The passage of the levy on November 2 is critical in allowing the district to continue offering quality programming to the students of our village. Q. How does this levy protect my investment? A. According to research from the Knowledge Works Foundation in Public Schools and Economic Development: What the Research Shows (2004), school quality has a direct and positive influence on residential property values. This report indicates that “the housing market consistently rewards” high passage rates on state achievement tests, high expenditures per pupil, and low pupil-teacher ratio (meaning low class sizes). A high achieving school system is a valuable community asset. Q. What is the cost of a 7.6 mill operating levy to a homeowner in Ottawa Hills? A. Please see the chart below for three examples of home values.
Q. What if I have more questions: A. If you have more questions, you can do any of the following: •For more information, visit the campaign committee’s website at www.voteforOHschools.org. To submit a specific question, click:
•Attend one of the informational neighborhood coffees being held in the Village through September and October. To see the coffee schedule, visit the campaign website or click:
To schedule a spot at a coffee, call Allison Johnson at 419-531-2443 or Joy Kight at 419-536-0990.
• Contact Dr. Kevin Miller or a Board Member Gary Wilson (419-531-2569) John Lewis (419-531-9566) Gretchen Rohm (419-535-0604) Brad Johnson (419-531-2443) Troy Greeley (419-531-0076)
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