(LFC Comments:  Since we have spent a great deal of time researching this subject, we just had to weigh in on the reporting done by the News-Herald.)

https://www.news-herald.com/news/elections/lake-county-school-financing-district-puts-49-mill-renewal-levy-on-march-17-ballot/article_482393b2-4c39-11ea-9f6a-073f4af95e15.html

We have realized for quite some time that the News-Herald no longer does any real investigative journalism.  Their articles on the Better Flip project left us incredulous, and disappointed in their reporting. We do not see any in-depth analysis being done that they can share with their readers.  All they do is parrot what the interviewee says about the issue.

Let us tell you what was not reported in this recent article:

• When Josh Englehart, Painesville Superintendent,  says that they will lose $550,000 annually, he only gave a partial answer.  That amount is based on the amount that would be collected based on the property valuations in his district, not what they have received in the past.
• Historically, the distribution of the funds collected have been distributed based on enrollment.  In 2018, the Painesville School District received $1,569,724 from the levy.   They were the beneficiary of the Riverside School District’s increasing property valuations that replaced the Perry Nuclear Plant’s declining property valuations.   The truth is that the taxpayers in the Riverside School District, and to a lessor degree the Perry School District, have been subsidizing the Painesville and Madison School Districts for many years, and no one told the taxpayers!
• The truth is that if the levy fails, Painesville will lose much more than the $550,000.  It will also lose the $600K – $700K that they received from the Riverside School District taxpayers.
• The distribution of funds with the renewal levy will be based on the property valuations in each district, and therefore, the Riverside School District will keep the funds previously going to Painesville.
• Since the distribution of the taxes collected will be based on property valuations rather than enrollment, the Financing District levy has lost its original intent.  It will now operate as a normal operating levy, except the Educational Service Center will get $35,000 annually to do the bookkeeping.
• The 12.5% credit given to the taxpayers, and reimbursed by the State of Ohio, will remain if the current levy is renewed.

Here is a previous article we wrote about the Lake County Financing District:

https://lobbyistsforcitizens.com/2020/02/08/lake-county-financing-district-just-the-facts/

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