Why do suburban school districts like Upper Arlington keep asking for operating levies? This is a question that comes up quite often whenever a school district is on the ballot.
The primary reason is House Bill 920. In the 1970s, the Ohio legislature passed this state law, which ensures that voted operating levies do not grow as property values increase. In fact, as property values increase, tax rates on voted operating levies actually decrease for homeowners, so the district gets about the same amount of money.
So how does that work? Every three years, the county auditor sets an appraised home valuation for each property. These valuations may not match what you think you could sell your home for, but they are used by the county to calculate property taxes. As overall valuations increase, the tax rates for voted operating levies are recalculated, ensuring the school district continues to receive about the same total amount of money from each levy.
That is why operating levies are the primary way that suburban school districts similar to Upper Arlington deal with inflation in the cost of daily operations for their schools. Generally speaking, because of House Bill 920, the only way school districts see an increase in property tax revenue related to operating levies is when voters approve a new operating levy. That is why suburban school districts like Upper Arlington return to the ballot every three to five years in order to keep up with inflation and maintain the current level of school operations.
You can look up the auditor’s appraised valuation of your home on the Franklin County auditor’s website at www.franklincountyauditor.com. You can also find more financial information about our district on our website at www.uaschools.org/treasurer.aspx.
If you have questions about school funding or our district finances, please contact me at [email protected].