L-B considering fall levy

FINDLAY — Liberty-Benton Local Schools is having a special board meeting Friday at 5 p.m. to consider placing a levy on the November ballot. The substitute levy would aim to protect taxpayers from potential increases, should the Ohio General Assembly override Gov. Mike DeWine's vetoes in the FY 2026-27 operating state budget. The decision to place a levy this fall would preserve the 12-13% state share from rollback that the district would lose if the governor's vetoes are overruled, Liberty-Benton Superintendent Bruce Otley said. "What we're trying to do is lock in our current existing funding structure, and it will benefit our taxpayers by preserving the 12-13% state share that, if these vetoes are overruled, we will lose," Otley said. The levy proposal would be a combination of two existing emergency levies that total roughly $1,424,600 annually. The first levy, approved in 1994, was last renewed in 2009. The other passed in 2018 and is set to expire in 2029. The decision comes at a time of urgency, educators have said, as the Ohio House has scheduled a special session for Monday. Members will meet for a veto override session for items pertaining to school funding, which were recently vetoed by DeWine in the biennial budget. Vetoes the Ohio House may consider overriding Monday include: Item 55 — Veto removed provisions that would allow county budget commissions to reduce millage on any voter-approved levies aside from a debt levy. The provisions would raise concerns about constitutional uniformity — whereas a single county budget commission, for example, could lower the millage for the residents in its county, creating uniformity issues for residents in other counties. Item 65 — Veto removed provisions changing which levies are included in the 20-mill floor calculation. Emergency levies, substitute levies, incremental growth levies, conversion levies and the property tax portion of combined levies would all count towards the 20-mill floor. This could lead to an approximate 200 districts no longer being at "the floor," raising concerns for administrators that they will have no mechanism to account for inflation. Item 66 — Vetoed provisions that eliminate the district's ability to levy replacement property tax levies as well as fixed-sum emergency, substitute emergency and combined school district income tax and fixed-sum property tax levies. Administrators argue that each school district is unique, and reduce a district's ability to prefer different ways of funding such as a fixed-sum levy rather than a new operating (millage) levy dollars to maintain existing services. In DeWine's official veto messages, for item 66 he acknowledged that while there is a great need for property tax reform in Ohio, such items need to be further evaluated. "The DeWine-Tressel Administration recognizes the great need for property tax reform in Ohio and will convene a working group that will include legislators, agency officials, school officials, community members, and property tax experts to ensure this critical topic is given the attention deserved," the document reads. "Therefore, the veto of this item is in the public interest." Otley said DeWine's decision to veto these items, along with 65 others, was wise, appreciating the governor wanting to further evaluate the consequences of each item. "He believed that when it comes to all of these, what I would consider to be rather radical maneuvers by the legislature with regards to school funding, he thinks that those issues need to be more closely studied before legislation takes effect," Otley said. "In other words, what is the true ripple effect of all of these changes and how will all these changes actually affect taxpayers?" Another vetoed provision by DeWine includes a cash carryover cap reducing rates on current expense levies until the carry-over balance is decreased to below 40% of its general fund expenditures in the prior year (item 63). "Every school district has a unique need in regards to how they manage their finances," Otley said. "Every district is different, and that's why it's unwise to legislate things like a carryover cap" While intended to save taxpayers dollars, administrators worry it would limit the amount of funding a district can carry over year-to-year, resulting in districts asking taxpayers to pass levies more often. According to the Statehouse News Bureau, the override session will not be addressing item 63, however, the Ohio House of Representatives letter stated that additional items may be considered at future scheduled sessions. Otley said Liberty-Benton offers one of the lowest costs per-pupil to educate in the state while still achieving in the top 10-15% of all schools in Ohio. The school board will consider the November levy as a way to protect its local taxpayers and maintain financial stability, he said. "We only have one opportunity to do this if the legislature acts on July 21 and is successful in overruling the governor's vetoes, and that is to put an issue on the ballot this November," Otley said. During Friday's meeting, the board will decide whether or not to move forward with the ballot initiative. It is unclear at this moment if the board will pursue any action if the vetoes are upheld, Otley said.