YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown City School District will begin deficit spending by nearly $4 million a year in 2024, unless a new property tax levy is approved before then, according to a five-year forecast sent to the Ohio Department of Education.

The district in 2024 will begin spending more money than what it is taking in, according to its forecast. It will begin deficit spending by $4.1 million in that year. The amount will increase to $8.2 million in 2025 and $12.2 million in 2026.

Youngstown, however, will not be operating in actual deficit until 2026, according to the forecast.

The district ‘s June 30, 2026, balance will be a negative $954,113, based on current projections. This does not take into account any additional dollars that may come into the district that are not currently forecast in the budget.

District leadership is not discussing a levy increase now.

Five-year forecasts are done annually and sent to the state every year, so Ohio Department of Education officials will know how well districts are being operated financially.

Schools throughout the state received millions of dollars through the federal government’s American Rescue Plan and CARES Act that may offset some spending that would have been done through the districts’ general funds.

According to Youngstown’s most recent five-year-budget, if it is able to renew the current 10-mill, five-year levy prior to 2024, then its finances will improve significantly.

If the district convinces Youngstown voters to renew the levy that passed in November 2020, it will continue to earn at least $5.2 million a year. Youngstown voters in 2020 approved the operating levy by 63.4 percent.

“We have been fortunate that Youngstown voters have continuously voted to financially support the school district,” outgoing school board President Ronald Shadd said.

Voters approved renewing levies in 2008, 2012, 2015 and in 2020.

The next time voters will be asked to decide whether to support a new school levy will be their first opportunity since 2015 to make that judgment with the district under control of a local school board.

The state took over Youngstown schools in 2015 and placed the district under an academic distress commission and a chief executive officer to manage day-to-day operation of the district. The locally elected school board has since had little operational or financial control of the district.

The state took over control under legislation passed in 2015 because Youngstown schools received overall “F” grades on the state report card for at least four years in a row.

Critics of the state takeover have argued the district has not made significant academic improvement since.

Others, however, emphasized Youngstown schools were receiving overall failing grades on state report cards for many years while under control of the local school board, so something needed to be done.

Two other school districts, East Cleveland and Lorain, also were placed under state control under HB 70.

Last year, the state Legislature approved a plan that is allowing the three school districts to move from under state control in a step-by-step process to regain local authority.

With the passage of a new operating levy before the end of 2024, Youngstown schools will have an operating balance of $2.6 million in 2025 and $7.9 million in 2026.

Shadd emphasized that it is important for the next school board and administration to begin delivering on promises to improve academic outcomes of Youngstown students and improve the district’s outcomes on future versions of state report cards.

“The academic improvement plan approved by the state will allow the district to show it is moving in the right direction,” Shadd said.

rsmith@tribtoday.com