Funding errors impact schools

By Marc Kovac

Some local districts will see significant increases in state financial assistance.

COLUMBUS — It may only be $20,000, but Youngstown school officials say they can ill afford to lose any revenue next year.

“Every penny counts,” said William Johnson, Youngstown City School District treasurer, after learning Tuesday that the state plans to take $20,563 back next year.

Youngstown ran a $10.38 million deficit this fiscal year which ends Monday, and the district needs to retain all of its revenue sources, he said.

Mistaken enrollment estimates will cost nearly 200 Ohio school districts some of their state funding next year, while 100-plus others will receive a little more.

The Mahoning Valley has districts in both categories, and some, like Austintown and Brookfield, will see significant boosts in state assistance.

In total, 188 Ohio districts will see a decrease in the state hold-harmless payments they will receive in August, October and May, while 116 will receive increased funds, according to a spreadsheet compiled by the Ohio Department of Education.

Another 309 districts will not experience any changes in their payments.

The situation stems from tax reforms implemented by lawmakers several years ago, including the phase out of the tangible personal property tax and the implementation of the commercial activity tax.

The change meant an initial decrease in funding for school districts, so lawmakers put into place a hold-harmless mechanism, through which the state reimburses districts for the revenues they would have received from tangible personal property tax collections, said Scott Blake, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education.

The hold-harmless payments have been based on estimated enrollment for a coming school year. But corrections included in the state’s biennial capital budget, signed into law by Gov. Ted Strickland Tuesday, call for future payments to be based on actual enrollment. And looking at actual enrollment, state officials realized that some districts received too much and others not enough for the 2007-08 school year, Blake said.

Besides Youngstown, two other Mahoning County districts owe the state: Struthers, $10,432, and West Branch, $4,372. Two others will receive additional funds: Austintown, $271,172, and Lowellville, $3,847.

Six districts in Trumbull County owe the state: Girard, $2,298; Warren, $34,978; Newton Falls, $4,767; Bristol, $11,179; McDonald, $1,590; and Southington, $4,409.

Four other Trumbull districts, however, will receive additional funds: Niles, $79,823; Brookfield, $137,051; Joseph Badger, $41,971; and La Brae, $66,261.

Four districts in Columbiana County owe the state: East Palestine, $2,217; Leetonia, $1,744; Lisbon, $2,707; and Southern Local, $1,256. T

wo others will receive additional funds: Beaver Local, $10,672, and Wellsville, $9,302.

Six area districts in Stark County will receive more funding, including Alliance, $17,036, and Minerva, $162.

The largest fund losers are Groveport Madison Local in Franklin County, $767,817; Lancaster in Fairfield County, $618,353; and Zanesville in Muskingum County, $338,489.

At the other end of the spectrum, Middletown City School District in Butler County, South-Western in Franklin and Bedford City in Cuyahoga will receive $1.5 million, $1.2 million and $667,427, respectively.

mkovac@dixcom.com

XCONTRIBUTOR: Harold Gwin, Vindicator education writer.