If passed as is, Portage County schools could lose millions in carryover funds under the current version of the Ohio House GOP’s proposed state budget — a reality that concerns local superintendents and the Ohio Education Association, a union representing over 100,000 school workers statewide.
As part of the larger budget, the Republican-backed House Bill 96 would limit K-12 school districts to keeping 30% of their carryover budget (money left over) year-to-year during the 2026-27 fiscal year. The rest would be returned to the public through a property tax reduction. According to the Ohio House of Representatives official website, property tax relief would total $4 billion statewide with the bill.
The legislation passed through the House 60-39 April 9, with no Democrats voting in support. Ohio Rep. Steve Demetriou (R-Bainbridge Twp.), serving Portage County, was a co-sponsor of the bill.
As of April 29, it still awaits a Senate decision.
The budget was introduced two weeks before its passing. In the original language, the carryover cap was set at 25%. HB96 would also increase public school funding by $207.6 million and private school vouchers by $500 million.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from Ohioans all over the state about what they want from this budget, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Matt Huffman (R-Lima), speaker of the Ohio House, said in a press release. “This budget delivers the largest property tax cut in the history of the state of Ohio, boosts funding for schools … This budget is a win for Ohio.”
Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, and several Portage County school administrators noted the increase in public school funds would abandon the Ohio Fair School Funding Plan, an approach designed to identify the costs of providing a quality education to every student and a fair way of distributing state aid based on the needs of individual districts. The bipartisan legislation became law in 2021, and its final phase was set for adoption during the 2026-27 fiscal year before HB96 came along.
If HB96 becomes law, nine of Portage County’s 11 school districts would see losses of at least $140,000 from their carryover funds during the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Statewide, hundreds of districts and students would see an impact. According to DiMauro, 90% of K-12 aged students in Ohio attend public schools.
“It’s not really clear what the true logic behind it is,” DiMauro said. “You have some districts that may have some federal funds that they got through the pandemic, and they’re still able to save because of that. You have districts that may have budgeted funds for later times because they’re expecting an influx of students, or they’re building a new building, and they have to have money set aside in order to fund programs for a new building. This budget provision is arbitrary, and it essentially says we’re going to take a one-size-fits-all approach to school districts.”
How would House Bill 96 affect Portage County school districts?
Kent City Schools would see the greatest impact of any district in the county if HB96 passes. The district would lose $13,287,733 (42%) of its projected $31,997,852 in carryover funds, according to data from the Policy Research and Member Advocacy department at the Ohio Education Association.
“School districts, including Kent City Schools, received extra federal stimulus funding during the pandemic,” the Kent City School District said in a statement. “We have been good fiscal stewards of those additional resources and spent them strategically and wisely. Having the one-time federal funding has added to our current carryover, which allows us to adequately plan for the future and navigate economic downturns. We also want to keep our excellent bond rating in Kent – credit rating agencies like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s consider whether the district has adequate carryover when determining our ratings.”
A bond rating, as determined by qualified agencies, shows investors any potential risks, according to Fidelity. The higher the ratings, the lower the risk, meaning interest rates would be lower, in this case, for taxpayers.
The districts losing the next-largest funds would be Southeast Local at $4,178,248 (38%) of its $11,114,026 in carryover funds, and Field Local at $4,263,620 (35%) of its $12,107,924.
Ravenna City and Waterloo local schools do not have carryover funds exceeding 30% normally, with Ravenna carryover the lowest at a projected $722,797 and Waterloo with the second-lowest at $2,608,445.
Those districts are the only two in Portage County that would not be affected by the proposed budget. This also means the communities within these districts would not see any property tax reimbursement.
“It is very important to note that this budget provision would be extremely inequitable in terms of who it would benefit and who it wouldn’t,” DiMauro said. “It would not provide comprehensive property tax relief for residents across Portage County. The people that would benefit most would be people in the most expensive houses in Kent. People who would benefit not at all would be people in lower income housing in Ravenna.”
Aurora City Schools and residents served by the district would see little impact from the budget, according to the Ohio Education Association data, with the district losing only 1% of its carryover budget and households splitting a projected property tax return of only $140,484.
“The majority of Portage County school districts would lose funding that voters already approved to go towards funding Portage County children’s education,” said Michael Roberto, Aurora Schools superintendent. “Not everyone is provided this ‘relief’ – residents in Aurora, Ravenna and Waterloo school districts would not – and it will only lead to districts having to ask the voters to approve funding more often.”
Portage County schools in total would lose a total of $27,079,341 in carryover funds alone, the Ohio Education Association data said.
What is the background behind HB96?
Starting in 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled four times that the education system in the state was unconstitutional because of an overreliance on property taxes, DiMauro said. Fast forward to 2021, the bipartisan Ohio Fair School Funding plan passed, and it was set to be fully implemented after phasing in during three, two-year budget cycles.
Under the current version of the House budget, schools would receive 10% of the money the Ohio Fair School Funding systems determines districts would need for the upcoming fiscal year, according to Policy Matters Ohio. In February, Gov. Mike DeWine proposed an executive budget that did fully phase in this financial plan.
The House bill abandoned it.
“The whole thing was they were still underfunding schools by $2.75 billion when you compare with what the Fair School Funding Plan should provide and what the House is actually proposing,” DiMauro said. “That’s our main concern. We want the legislature to finish the job and fully and fairly fund our schools, and that roadmap for doing that had been established four years ago.”
Another key component to the issue is a nationwide problem with the housing market and lack of affordable housing, which has caused a spike in property taxes for some, DiMauro said. According to an article from Axios Columbus, median property taxes in the state rose 23.1% between 2019 and 2023. Nationally, that median rose 21.6%.
Most districts, DiMauro noted, don’t get the benefit of inflation in their property tax collections because of the way the tax form was set up.
This is tied to House Bill 920, a state law that aims to stabilize tax revenues even when property values rise.
“Ohio is the only state to have such a system, which makes HB920 the most restrictive property tax limitation in the country,” Roberto said. “Providing a small inflationary provision in HB920, which is now part of the state constitution, would not be easy, but it could provide a ‘safety valve’ that would provide some relief to public school districts across the state.”
Michael Dobran, superintendent of the Windham school district, noted that school districts are required to put out a five-year forecast every year, anticipating their revenues and expenditures to ensure they have a plan to fund programs and determine if they need a levy for additional funds.
For most districts, he said, the largest source of revenue they have is local property taxes and, in some cases, local income taxes. HB96 would create a challenge in financial planning.
“Local taxes, in theory, should be the most predictable revenue source that a school district has, but under this provision, that becomes very unpredictable, because it says if your reserves get to a certain level, then your tax rates change, and you can’t collect as much,” DiMauro said. “There’s no way to predict into the future what you’re going to have as far as revenues. If you can’t predict your revenues, then it makes it really hard to predict your expenses because you don’t know what you’re going to be able to afford.”
What do local districts think about this proposed budget?
Roberto said HB96 is treating a symptom of a bigger problem: a continual erosion of state support for public school kids.
“Ohio’s funding of public school children’s education was first ruled unconstitutional in 1997, and at that time, Ohio ranked 35 out of 50 states in its support,” Roberto said. “Today, Ohio has dropped to 45 out of 50 states, thanks to providing an average of 38% of a local school district’s revenue, and with the abandonment of the Fair School Funding Plan, as proposed by the House, the state’s funding for public school kids remains unconstitutional. It puts too heavy a burden on local communities.”
Dobran said he and the Windham district’s management team began having conversations about the bill and its potential impact since the carryover item was introduced. He and his treasurer have also been meeting with superintendents and treasurers throughout the county to hold discussions with local legislators.
The Windham Exempted Village Schools Board of Education held a special meeting April 29 to address concerns about HB96. The board passed a resolution that states its “strong support” of the Fair School Funding Plan and its opposition to the 30% carryover fund cap that would shortchange the district $2,281,297, as written in a copy of the resolution.
“The Board recommends that any proposals related to property tax relief be considered separately and in full consultation with education stakeholders,” the resolution read.
The board called upon the Ohio General Assembly and DeWine to “uphold their
commitment to fair school funding by ensuring that future biennial budgets fully fund the FSFP and update cost calculations to reflect the actual cost of educating Ohio’s students.”
The resolution said it would be forwarded to DeWine, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and other stakeholders.
Dobran said if the House version passes, his students would have less individualized attention, bigger class sizes and less co-curricular and extracurricular opportunities. The community would also face “unpredictable” tax bills as property taxes would fluctuate based on the carryover funds that fall above the 30% threshold, Dobran said.
“Last school year, we did not replace two teachers that retired, and this school year, we will not be replacing three teachers that retire,” Dobran said. “In addition, we continue to be fiscally responsible with each purchase we make. With that said, we are still deficit spending and the carryover is vital to keep the school running efficiently while maintaining the opportunities we provide the students in Windham schools.”
While HB96 still waits for a decision in the Senate, Portage County districts encouraged their members to speak up and have their views heard.
“Just as school districts are doing,” Kent City Schools said, “there is still time for parents and community members to also voice their concerns to legislators about the current provisions in the bill that are detrimental to public education.”
