According to school leaders, if passed in its current form, Ohio House Bill 96 could represent a “generational change” to state public school funding in Ohio leading to possible staffing cuts and more frequent local levy requests.
Medina County public school superintendents and treasurers held a town hall forum May 14 to discuss the effects of Ohio House Bill 96 on public school financing.MEDINA, Ohio --- If passed in its current form, Ohio House Bill 96 could represent a “generational change” to state public school funding in Ohio.
This from leaders from public school districts in Medina County who gathered May 14 at Medina High School for a discussion of HB96. The Medina County Public Education Town Hall forum included superintendents and treasurers from the Brunswick, Medina, Buckeye and Wadsworth school districts. Medina City School Superintendent Aaron Sable began the town hall with an overview of HB 96 and the primary concern of school leaders. Sable explained that the House bill comes in response to Ohio Gov. Michael DeWine’s budget proposal, which included implementation of the Fair School Funding Plan – a formula that has determined that public school districts in Ohio are owed $2.75 billion in state funding. However, Sable said, the governor’s 2025 state budget proposal used Fair School Funding Plan figures from 2023. “The idea being there would be less for districts with declining enrollment,” Sable explained. “Some would receive more; some . We looked at it and in Medina it would be approximately a $1.75 million reduction.” Enter the House plan, which Sable said provides districts with more state funding than the governor’s proposal – with an estimated $200 million going to the state’s 600-plus public school districts and twice that amount to charter schools – but also contains the most controversial component of either proposed budget. “ puts a 30% cap on carryover money,” Sable said, adding that the formula is ostensibly to lessen burden of property taxes. “No one on panel who doesn’t agree with that,” Sable said of the latter point. “But on backs of 90 % students in the state.” Sable said if HB 96 becomes part of the state budget as written, school funding will be overseen by the newly formed Medina County Budget Commission—made up of the County Auditor, Treasurer, and Commission President, members who are not necessarily familiar with public school funding. A key aspect of the House bill’s funding formula, he said, is that it erroneously equates a school district’s year-to-year carryover funds in its Ohio Department of Education-mandated five-year forecast to the state’s rainy day funds. Rainy day funds, Sable said, are budget surpluses set aside for emergency expenditures. A public school district’s carryover, however, is the fiscal budgeting of voter-supported levy dollars to allow the levy to pay expenses over a longer period of time, thereby extending the life of a levy and allowing districts to avoid seeking local dollars as often. Moreover, Sable said, the proposed 30% carryover formula’s focus on local tax revenues, while claiming to return those property tax savings to local tax payers, is a short-term fix at best. He explained that with each subsequent year, the 30% carryover formula will also be applied to a shrinking overall budget, leading to more frequent requests for local money and creating a “yo-yo effect,” even if districts are successful in passing levies. If they are unsuccessful, Sable said the result could be financially catastrophic. Medina County residents and school employees attended a town hall forum at Medina High School May 14 to discuss the effects of Ohio House Bill 96 on public school financing.Wadsworth City Schools Treasurer Douglas Beeman said as districts return to the ballot more often, albeit for smaller millage amounts per levy, voters will remember the frequency more than the millage. He said the HB 96 formula encourages bad fiscal planning by forcing districts to spend levy dollars earlier in the levy cycle to stay below the 30% carryover cap each year. “ we get more at the front end and then spend down at the end of the levy cycle,” Beeman said. “Now, if asking for seven mills we will go out more often for one or two mills. People are not going to remember that the last levy only asked for one or two mills. They are going to say ‘you are back again, why aren’t you managing the money?’” Brunswick City Schools Superintendent Jason Niedermeyer said his district is in the midst of a voter-supported high schooland has spent much time educating the public on its five ongoing operating levies. “We have been on the ballot 52 times since 1983,” he said. “And 10 times in the past 12 election cycles. There is ballot fatigue in our community.” In a letter to district parents ahead of the May 14 meeting, Niedermeyer said the Brunswick City Schools district stands to lose approximately $16 million, beginning in the 2025-26 school year, if this legislation passes. “To put that in context—our total annual operating budget is approximately $80 million,” Niedermeyer wrote. “Losing nearly 20% of that would be devastating and deeply disruptive to the services and stability we’ve built for our students.” He said one of his main concerns with HB 96 is that it takes away local control of tax-payer supported funds “Even more troubling is that these dollars aren’t excess funds—they are voter-approved levy dollars that our community committed to supporting Brunswick students and schools,” Niedermeyer said. “This proposal undermines that support and disregards the way public school funding is structured in Ohio. When our renewal levy passed in November, I made a commitment that we would not return to the ballot until 2028—barring any unforeseen challenges. If this bill passes, it will undo years of responsible planning and seriously jeopardize Brunswick’s financial future and educational stability.” He also echoed Sable’s comments that proponents of the bill are framing district cash balances as “large, unneeded surpluses.”“That’s simply not accurate,” Niedermeyer said. “In our district, and in many others, those balances are a vital part of a five-to-six-year levy cycle designed to ensure that we can continue operating without asking taxpayers to approve new levies every year. This is no different than how families manage their finances: a paycheck is deposited, then gradually used for expenses throughout the month. If HB 96 becomes law as written, this well-established, responsible system of financial planning will no longer be possible.” He said with the district receiving roughly 60% of its operating funds from local sources and 40% from the state, HB 96 is “cutting us off at the knees.” “House Bill 96 is being promoted as ‘property tax relief,’ but what it really does is take funding already approved by voters and redirect it temporarily—causing unpredictable shifts in tax bills and undercutting financial certainty for schools,” Niedermeyer said. “The end result? Districts like Brunswick will be forced to return to the ballot more often for funding our community has already said yes to.” With the Senate floor vote tentatively scheduled for June 12, each of the school leaders at the May 14 meeting encouraged residents to learn more about HB 96 and contact state representatives about their concerns. Medina City Schools Treasurer David Chambers said in addition to urging the Senate to remove the 30% cap and re-instate DeWine’s Fair School Financing proposal into the budget, other options exist – such as increasing Homestead Exemption – to help residents most in need without impacting public schools. Meanwhile, Niedermeyer said public school district leaders are already being faced with tough decisions. “This changes the landscape; this money drives a lot of our decisions and there is uncertainty,” he said. “We are negotiations with our cafeteria classified employees. How can we commit to a long-term agreement when we don’t know what will be in the bank? I will be meeting with my five bosses and there are going to be some difficult decisions.”If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.
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