If you hear the statement from any school superintendent that the schools do not receive increased revenues simply because there is an increase in existing property valuations, you should label that statement as patently  “FALSE”.

The complex issue of property taxes has a component called “Inside Millage”.

Inside millage is a tax provided by the Ohio State Constitution, and is levied without a vote of the people. It is called inside millage because it is “inside” the law. Another name would be un-voted millage.

The Ohio Constitution allows for 10 mills (1%) of inside millage in each political subdivision. Public schools, counties, townships, and other local governments are allocated a portion of the 10 inside mills.

Here is a schedule of the inside millage by taxing district in Lake County:
INSIDE MILLAGE BY TAXING DISTRICT 2019

You will note that Willoughby-Eastlake School District has 4.8 mills of inside millage. (That equates to $168.00 per $100,000 of market valuation, and is not subject to H.B. 920 rules to adjust for inflation.) [$35.00 x 4.8 mills = $168.00 per $100,000 of market valuation]

Each taxing district is charge 1.1 mills for County millage.  Here is a schedule that shows that 1.0 mills goes into the County General Fund and .10 mills goes to the Metroparks.
RATES OF TAXATION FOR 2018

One last schedule for you to review.  We received from the Lake County Auditor’s office their Schedule A, which provides a wealth of information about property taxes for each political sub-division.  Since we are focusing on the Willoughby-Eastlake School District, we wanted to illustrate what happens to the school’s revenue under the inside millage if there is an increase in property values.

Willoughby-Eastlake School District Schedule A:  WE SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHEDULE A

You can see that currently the school district receives approximately a total of $7,816,268 annually from the three classes of property.  We wondered how much the school would receive if there was a 1% increase in property tax valuations. The answer is ~$160,396 per year.

For those that want to check my math, here is the formula: (corrected 9/15/19 to fix Auditor’s typo)

[((Current valuation x 1.01) x 96%) x (4.8 mills /1,000)]- Current Revenue

Totals: $1,696,238,720 x 1.01= $1,713,201,197 x 96% = $1,64,673149 x (4.8/1000)=

$7,894,431 – $7,816,268 = $78,163

So schools, and other political sub-divisions receiving inside millage tax will automatically receive an increase in revenue without a vote of the taxpayers if there is an increase in property valuations!

Hope this helps……

Categories: Education, Lake, Uncategorized, Willoughby

Tags: FT