The Marysville Board of Education had its mind on money matters at Thursday night’s board meeting.
Marysville Treasurer Todd Johnson gave an update on property values in the area, which topped $900 million in 2019. Later in the meeting, the board approved a resolution in opposition to the state’s voucher program that could mean lost dollars to the district.
Johnson provided the board with a spreadsheet that broke down the historical values of residential, agricultural and commercial property in the district dating back to the year 2000. He said there is good news and bad news in the 2019 valuation numbers, which are the most recent for tax collection purposes.
The value of residential property in the district jumped by more than $82 million in 2019, continuing a trend of five straight years of increases. Total residential properties in the district are valued at $541,862,000.
Johnson said the increase in residential value is the largest in the history of the district.
While he has not had time to explore the details of the increase, he theorized that most of it came from the increased value of homes from revaluation, rather than from new construction. He went on to say that new construction would benefit the district more because of the nature of school funding, but even revaluation gains help the schools with increased money from inside millage.
He estimated the residential property value boost could result in six figure annual revenue gains for the district. A greater benefit to the schools would come on future levy attempts, where it would take fewer voted mills to generate specific dollar amounts.
The value of agricultural land in the county dropped for the second year in a row after nine years of gains. After peaking at $92,145,000 in 2017, the farmland value dropped by about $100,000 in 2018, before dropping again to $88,237,000 in 2019.
Johnson said he was not overly concerned with the decrease based on the changing use of land in the district, which was apparent in the residential figures.
Of greater concern to Johnson was the value of commercial property in the district, which dropped by more than $3.4 million, to $165,242,00, in 2019 after five years of gains. Commercial values peaked in the district in 2009 at just under $194 million.
Johnson said the drop probably only means a decrease in $15,000-$25,000 annually for the district.
“It’s not at an alarming rate,” Johnson said.
Still, the more worrisome issue to the treasurer is the shifting tax burden. As commercial tax payments fall, homeowners are left to make up the difference.
“Our residential tax payers are now paying a larger share,” Johnson said.
Board member Nan Savidge asked what triggered the drop in commercial values and Johnson said he does not have that answer yet. He said it could be due to depreciation in the value of existing commercial buildings in the district, but the growth in the area should more than offset that.
However, Johnson noted that much of the new growth in the area occurs in Tax Increment Financing Districts, which are special taxing districts that funnel away revenue from some public agencies to help pay for infrastructure needs. The result for the schools, according to Johnson, is that the district receives only 25% of the tax revenue from much of the new commercial growth in the area.
Despite the decline in commercial and agricultural value, the residential growth, and growth in other minor areas, caused the overall property value in the district to surge by more than $78 million to its highest number ever at more than $906 million. For reference, the value of all property in the district in 2000 was $573 million.
The board also voted 5-0 on a resolution opposing changes to the state of Ohio’s EdChoice Voucher Program.
The wording of the program recently changed to allow many schools, not previously covered by the voucher program, to be included. The number of schools is reportedly set to increase from 500 this year to more than 1,200 next year. Statewide the change has resulted in many traditionally wealthy, high performing schools to be covered by the voucher program because they lag in just one area of the state report cards.
Marysville board member Dick Smith said none of Marysville schools received ratings that would allow local parents to secure vouchers, but schools in Central Ohio districts such as Olentangy, Dublin and Hilliard would qualify next year. Schools in North Union, Jonathan Alder and Triad would also allow parents to qualify for vouchers.
Smith said each voucher would allow a parent to be reimbursed $6,000 if they chose to send their student to a private school.
The resolution states that the expansion of the voucher program will have a detrimental impact on public schools by siphoning off funding.
In other business, the board:
-Honored members of the football team, band program and cross country programs that qualified for fall state competitions.
-Heard a presentation from Marysville High School officials about the goals for the current school year in regard to habits of mind, assessments and personalized teacher goals.
-Approved a resolution recognizing Public Education Week.
-Approved various routine staff actions.