We have taken the time to read the Fair School Funding Plan.  Here is a link to all 27 pages of the plan.

Fair School Funding Plan (2)

Here is an article on the subject:   https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2019/03/more-money-would-go-to-schools-in-fair-funding-plan-just-with-some-surprising-gains-and-freezes.html
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Here is an excerpt from their report:

NEED FOR STABILITY OF FINANCING:
School funding in Ohio is a shared state and local responsibility. District treasurers are tasked with projecting annual revenues several years ahead with reasonable accuracy so their Board members and administrators can effectively plan and manage, and administer their schools. Consequently, there is a need for stable, reliable estimates of future state share funding that the current system cannot provide.

CHALLENGE
The challenge is to develop a new method for determining district “capacity” – computing a district’s state/local share by using a method that is stable, reliable are based exclusively upon capacity factors within the district which include both property values and personal income.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The Subgroup opted for an entirely new measure that factors in the district’s property
valuation and income capacity as determined by the total federal adjusted gross income
(FAGI) reported by the residents of the district on their federal income tax returns. This new methodology will provide a stable, predictable state/local share in K-12 education funding which is based exclusively upon the capacity factors of the individual district and will not be disrupted by changes in other districts statewide as under the current method

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LFC COMMENTS:
We wanted to compare the new funding formula results for Lake, Geauga, and Lorain public schools to see how each school district would be impacted by the new State formula.  Using the Cupp Reports, we summarized the formula funding for each school district in three counties and have also compared theIR enrollment numbers.  Here are the comparisons for FY 2012 – FY 2021.  The last three years are projected by the Fair Funding Plan.

Lake County:  Lake County Formula Funding Comparisons

The total enrollment in all Lake County schools is declining.  In 2012, the total enrollment was 32,877, and is projected to be 29,281 in 2021.  That is a decrease of 3,595 (10.9%).
However, the State funding has increased from $66,258,184 to $102,041,110 – a total of $35,782,926 (54.0%)!!!

Here are some interesting statistics from the Cupp Report for FY 2018:
District Total Property Tax Per Pupil Tax Year 2017:
Fairport Harbor               $8,255.74
Kirtland                           $11,370.32
Madison                             $4,302.27
Mentor                             $10,166.79
Painesville                         $2,519.22
Perry                                  $ 7,184.26
Riverside                           $ 8,055.52
Wickliffe                          $11,534.69
Willoughby-Eastlake      $ 9,147.40

Geauga County:  Geauga County Funding Formula Comparisons

The total enrollment in all Geauga County schools is also declining. In 2012, the total enrollment was 14,134 and is projected to be 9,533 in 2021.  That is a decrease of 4,601 (32.5%).  The State funding will increase to $18,764,502 in 2021, up from $15,799.712 in 2012.  That is an increase of $2,964,790 (18.8%).

District Total Property Tax Per Pupil Tax Year 2017:
Berkshire                          $ 5,822.64
Cardinal                            $ 9,629.83
Chardon                            $ 9,169.91
Kenston                            $12,313.26
Newbury                          $17,888.35
West Geauga                    $11,564.68

Lorain County:   Lorain County Formula Funding Comparisons

The total enrollment in all Lorain County schools is also declining.  In 2012, the total enrollment was 47,023 versus the projected 2021 enrollment of 39,295 – a drop of 7,728 (16.4%).  The total funding increased from $148,808,752 in 2012 to $193,015,272 in 2021 – an increase of $44,206,520 (29.7%)

District Total Property Tax Per Pupil Tax Year 2017:
Amherst                         $ 5,586.48
Avon Lake City            $10,072.26
Avon Local                     $ 7,252.56
Clearview                       $ 3,071.39
Columbia                       $10,321.88
Elyria                               $ 5,195.59
Firelands                        $ 6,738.92
Keystone                         $ 5,689.67
Lorain                              $ 2,309.23
Midview                          $ 7,052.07
North Ridgeville           $ 6,750.02
Oberlin                            $ 5,728.85
Sheffield- Shef. Lake   $ 8,439.01
Wellington                      $ 4,917.96 

(LFC Comments: With such large increases in State funding, one would think that there should be a corresponding decrease in local property tax.   Perhaps local renewal levies for schools will be in jeopardy, and all future new levies must be challenged.  It makes no sense to continue to spend more money to educate an ever decreasing number of students.

We have reported that Painesville and Euclid school districts are about to be put under State control because of poor performance.  We are going to have to decide how small a school district can get before someone makes the decision to merge the school with another one in the respective County.

We have some other interesting statistics from the Cupp Reports that we will be sharing with you in later posts.)

Categories: Lake, Real Estate Taxes, Uncategorized

Tags: FT