CANFIELD — More than 100 residents attended a public information session Monday at the Canfield Library to find out how new Mahoning County property tax valuations will affect them if a bond issue for the Canfield Local School District passes on Nov. 7.

The Committee to Support Canfield Schools hosted the public session at which Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham spoke.

If passed, the levy will cost $21.88 per month, or $262 per year, for every $100,000 of a home’s value for 37 years.

Committee chairman Pat Sculli opened the meeting by giving a rundown on how the district came to put the $105,000,000 bond levy on the ballot. He said a committee was formed in January this year tasked with coming up with a vision and plan for the future of Canfield schools. In April, following months of discussions, the committee hosted a public open house for residents to vote on the plan they liked the most.

“This plan is what people voted for,” Sculli said.

He added that the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) reviewed the Canfield school facilities and determined the district needed to build new. The OFCC recommends new when the cost of renovating an older building exceeds 66.3%, he said.

The bond issue would pay for a new PK-4 school at the Hilltop Elementary site (estimated at $41 million); a new grade 5-8 middle school at the middle school site (estimated at $46 million) and adding a second gym there (estimated at $3.6 million); renovations to Canfield High School (estimated at $15 million); abatement or demolition of Canfield Village Middle School and C.H. Campbell Elementary (estimated at $1.7 million and $524,000 respectively; and repurposing Hilltop as an administration building.

“Anyone who says ‘my taxes are going up by 40 percent’ doesn’t know what they are talking about,” Meacham said.

He said home and property values increased across the county. The city of Canfield saw an approximate 37% increase and the township saw an approximate 28% increase. However, he explained that the amount of valuation increase does not mean the same for the property taxes.

Meacham said every six years, Ohio law requires a revaluation for all real property. The goal for the state is to get close to 92 percent of the market value.

In the recent reassessment, a lot of property values increased, but the taxes on the new property valuation does not, Meacham said.

He said the inside millage — which is the 10 mills that are not voted on — likely will rise, but the voted millage, or outside millage, would not collect any more than was originally passed. As an example, Meacham said if the voters approve a levy to bring in $100,000, then that is all it will ever generate.

“For about a third, taxes will stay the same.” Meacham said. “For another third, the taxes will come down and for the final third, taxes may rise. Can I tell you how much? No. We won’t know that until mid-January of 2024.”

That is when the new property tax bills will be prepared.

He said the school levy is already set and if the levy is approved, it will collect the same amount no matter what happens to the property taxes.

Sculli said the longer the district waits to approve a levy, the more the new schools will cost and the less the OFCC may be willing to contribute. Also, the maintenance issues the district is battling won’t go away.

“In the last three years, we spent $2.4 million on maintenance,” Sculli said.

Meacham said residents can visit www.mahoningcountyoh.gov and go to the auditor’s page at https://www.mahoningcountyoh.gov/961/Auditor and view their tentative property value for 2024.