Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
The Genoa Area Local School District will see voters decide on a renewal substitute emergency property tax levy on May 6.
The purpose of the renewal levy, which replaces an emergency property tax levy originally approved in 2015 and renewed in 2020, allows the district to collect additional revenue on new real property construction without increasing tax obligations for existing property owners.
This levy is a renewal of the renewal, and it is the second time the district has approached the voters after it failed in November. The funds covered account for nine percent of Genoa’s budget and would generate $1.2 million for the district while costing homeowners $18.50 per month for every $100,000 home.
There is a mechanism in place that limits the increase in property taxes as valuations rise, which was established by a 1976 state legislature law, House Bill 920.
Thus, the recent increase in residential property values did not provide additional funding to the school district, due to HB 920 and the Tax Reduction Factor (TRF).
Genoa officials reiterated that the levy on the ballot on May 6 will not increase the total taxes charged to current taxpayers, and that it will only capture new revenue growth on new construction from residential homes and businesses.
“As property values increase, you would typically expect property taxes to go up as well,” district treasurer Bill Nye said in October. “However, to prevent large tax increases when property values rise, HB 920 reduces the tax rate so that the total amount of money collected by the taxing entity – like the school district – on existing levies remains relatively stable.
“In other words, the effective tax rate is lowered as property values rise and leaves the amount of tax revenue received by school districts from a renewal levy relatively unchanged.”
Genoa’s assistant superintendent Cody McPherson, who will be elevated to superintendent in August, emphasized that the district is fiscally responsible, and that the money is for necessary items including bus fuel and maintenance, utilities, building supplies and maintenance, purchase services and personnel. There is no additional money being collected.
“We don't have a frivolous district,” he said. “We're not adding new and additional things. We look at everything on a one by one basis and say, ‘If something new comes up, is this a need or a want? Can we do this in a way that is fiscally responsible?’ And then if the answer is we have to do this because here's why, we move forward with it.
“We do that with every single thing. And the voters in our district and our communities have told us in various ways that they appreciate it, and they know that we do that.”
One example of Genoa’s fiscally responsible behavior, McPherson said, is how the district used the American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER funds post-Covid.
Each school got a percentage of funds, and McPherson said Genoa did not get a whole lot of funds. The state created an algorithm to determine what each school should and shouldn't receive.
“There are some schools that are building beautiful large buildings with leftover extra funds,” he said. “We were not building buildings. We were sustaining our buildings. We were paying for infrastructure of our buildings in order for those buildings to continue to last.”
And that has an impact in terms of retention, including a school resource officer (SRO), which McPherson said the district felt was important.
“When we lost the ESSER monies, there wasn't a huge (push) to cut a ton of things in order to make up (for the lost money),” McPherson said. “We did not go and buy a lot of things. In fact, all the things we did were for upkeep and maintenance. We did repairs to our building. It wasn't that we went in to purchase additional personnel, which then (would have) needed to cut.
“That's a great example of how we are fiscally responsible. Even when we do get additional funds, we're utilizing it in a long-term approach (and asking) how can we take that money and sustain it for a long period of time. That is what the renewal money is for us.
“The things that we're saying what we're using it for are truly are what we're utilizing these funds for, and that's why it's important to us.”
In addition to the outcome of the levy, another thing McPherson and the district is keeping an eye on is what shakes out with the state’s biannual budget, and the outcomes of both items will play a significant role in the financial future of the district.
“Both those things are going to have a large impact on Genoa, and the budget is going to have a large impact on all schools,” McPherson said. “I hate to say that we're waiting to see what the renewal does and also waiting to see what the budget does because I want to say if we pass the renewal, everything is going to be great (but) the budget (could) come down and really restrict what we're able to do.”
Ultimately, voters have a decision to make on May 6.
“We're not renewing it, and then we go get this,” McPherson said. “That's not it. It is to continue to maintain our fiscal responsibility as a district. I think that's important to our community. I think that's important to our voters. And that's what it means to us. We are going to continue to be fiscally responsible with our funds.”
