Mayfield School Officials Remain Unsure About State Funds

State officials released some school budget numbers, but it's not really helping local districts with financial projections.

"There's some mystery to it," said Mayfield City School District Treasurer Scott Snyder. "Basically, I'm trying to reconcile the numbers back to the amounts we've received."

The Ohio Office of Budget and Management said the budget presented by Gov. John Kasich would provide Mayfield with $853,719 in state foundation money for 2011-2012. However, they also listed the district's 2010-2011 allocation at $2.3 million – well short of the $3 million received, Snyder said.

Source: Ohio Office of Budget and Management

Snyder said that it appeared that the $2.3 million figure didn't include additional funds for things like training and special education. Snyder said he expects that the omission means that money will be cut as well.

According to the state, Mayfield will get $1.5 million less in 2011-2012, which amounts to a drop of 63.9 percent. But the actual cut may be more than $2.1 million, Snyder said. Foundation money for Mayfield would increase to $1.3 million in the second year of the budget proposal, still less than half the amount received this school year.

Snyder said the district had expected a 20 percent cut in foundation funds for 2011-2012. On top of the proposed 63.9 percent cut, school officials also expect to lose some of the state tangible property reimbursement. When the tangible property tax was eliminated in 2005, the state offset the loss with payments to districts that were to be eventually phased out over a 13-year period.

Now it appears that schedule will be accelerated. That's a problem for Mayfield, which receives $6 million annually in tangible property reimbursement.

"We know it's going to be reduced," Snyder said. But not knowing the amount and trying to incorporate that loss into a budget process that started last October makes it difficult for district officials to plan.

"We're trying to educate kids without knowing the impact this will have," he said. "They keep changing the rules."

The state fiscal year begins July 1. But the district is required to update its five-year forecast in May and may not have a definitive funding answer from the state. District officials also said they planned on stretching dollars further and wait another year to seek a levy. That would push the next levy request to 2012, with the additional money being collected in 2013 if a levy is approved.

Complicating matters is that there's no clear way to figure out how the state arrived at the recent foundation payments. Instead of having funds gradually cut, Mayfield will lose more than expected in the first year of the proposed budget and then get more funds the second year.

Snyder said one positive is that Mayfield is not as dependent on state aid as other districts. Mayfield gets $9 million – about 15 percent – of its $60 million annual budget from the state.

"Eventually, we may be 100 percent locally funded," Snyder said. "That will give us more control, but it really burdens our community."