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Beavercreek
School District Tax Levies
School
taxes make up more than
half of Beavercreek's
total property tax bill and generate lots of debate in the
community. Discussing school levies is often difficult
because
there are lots of them, of several different types, and the tax laws
are different for each type.
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| Summary:
Beavercreek School District Tax Levies and Bond Issues |
Original
Millage |
Assessed Millage* |
Assessed tax per $100K property |
Millage reduced as property values rise?* |
Millage reduced as new homes are built?* |
Pays for |
Approved or renewed in |
Expires or up for renewal by |
9.9
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7.1
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$217
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Yes
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Yes
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General
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2001, 2005
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2010
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5.9
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4.8
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$147
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Yes
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Yes
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General
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2003
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2009 |
1.0
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0.47
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$14
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Yes
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No
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Improvements
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1989, 2004
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2009
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3.9
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1.7
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$52
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Yes
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Yes
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Construction
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1995
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2019
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| 1.0 |
1.0 |
$31 |
No |
No |
Improvements |
Non-voted
"inside" levy |
n/a |
4.6
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4.6
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$141
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No
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No
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General
|
Non-voted "inside" levy |
n/a
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22.2
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12.85
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$394
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No (20 mill floor) |
No
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General
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1976 |
n/a
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4.0
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2.55
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$78
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No (20 mill floor) |
No
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General
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1982
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n/a
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52.5
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35.07
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$1074
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*The tax rate that we actually pay on voted levies
goes down over time, to compensate for rising property
values or increases in the tax base. For more information,
see the following:
You
can look up the current effective tax rates for your property or any
other property on the Greene
County website.
Click on "Auditor - Real Estate Information," look up the
property you want, and click on "Tax
Dispersal/Levies."
| Proposed
Beavercreek School District Construction Bond |
| Proposed Millage |
Assessed Millage* |
Assessed tax per $100K property |
Millage reduced as property values rise?* |
Millage reduced as new homes are built?* |
Pays for |
On the ballot in |
Would be paid off by |
| ~3.3 |
TBD |
~$101 |
Yes |
Yes |
Construction |
2008 |
2036 |
For more information on the
proposed construction bond, please see the following:
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How the tax levies work
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Levies we
vote on often
The Beavercreek School District has two "emergency" operating
levies and one "permanent improvement"
levy that were each approved by the voters for only a fairly short
period (four or five years). Each levy was approved in
a
different
year, so they come up for renewal or replacement in different
years.
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emergency levies
pay for general operation and maintenance of the schools:
Wages,
salaries, supplies, fuel, maintenance on the buildings and buses,
etc.
The permanent improvement levy pays for infrastructure repairs and
modifications,
and other items that last for at least five years, and it cannot be
used to pay for
day-to-day expenses. |
The two emergency levies are fixed income levies:
They provide the same fixed dollar amounts every
year, regardless of changes in property value or construction of new
housing developments. When the voters approved a particular
millage rate, the
county
auditor multiplied that rate by the total property value in the
district to come up with the specific dollar amount. The
county
collects that same original dollar amount every year, not the original
millage rate. Click here for an
Adobe Acrobat document showing effective tax rates for Beavercreek
levies, or contact the Greene
County Auditor's Office for additional information.
- If
property values go
up, the assessed tax rate goes down so the dollar amount stays the same.
- If
new homes or new commercial property add to the overall tax base, the
assessed
tax rate goes down so the total dollar
amount stays the same.
- The first emergency levy was
approved in 2001 at 9.9 mills and renewed in 2005, but is currently
assessed at 7.1. It will be up for renewal, replacement, or
expiration by 2010.
- The
second
emergency levy was approved in 2003 at 5.9 mills, but is currently
assessed at 4.8. It will be up for renewal, replacement, or
expiration by 2009.
The permanent improvement levy
rate is also reduced in proportion to rising property
values, but it is not reduced in proportion to new construction.
- If
property values go
up, the assessed tax rate goes down so the dollar amount stays the same.
- If
new
homes or new commercial property add to the overall tax base, the
owners of those new properties are assessed the same millage rate that
everyone else is assessed.
- It was originally
approved at 1.0 mill in 1989 and was renewed in 1994, 1999, and 2004,
so it will probably be back on the ballot in 2009. It is
currently assessed at 0.47 mills, to keep the amount collected from
existing property owners fixed at the original dollar amount.
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The
dollar amount collected by these
levies does not go up over time,
except for the small increase from new property owners paying the 0.47
mill permanent improvement levy.
The three levies
together were originally approved at a total of 16.8 mills, and (as of
2008) are currently assessed at a total of 12.37 mills. Each
mill works out to about $30.63 per year in taxes for each
$100,000 in
appraised value, for owner-occupied residential property.
12.37
mills x $30.63 = about $379 in tax for each $100,000 in property value.
Unless your property value has
gone up more than the average
increase for everyone in the district, the amount you are
paying on each of these three levies is not higher than when
they were passed, and it
will not go
up each time the county
reappraises your home upwards.
When new homes are built, the fixed dollar amount is spread over a
larger number of taxpayers, so the amount collected from existing
taxpayers goes down--and the school district does not receive any
additional
general-fund revenues from these levies. |
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Levies we
rarely vote on
In 1995 Beavercreek voters approved a 3.9
mill bond issue to pay for
major expansions and renovations at several of the Beavercreek School
District buildings. A construction bond is essentially a
mortgage loan for a fixed
dollar amount. Annual taxes collected via the bond levy pay
the
principal and interest on the loan, and cannot be used for other
expenses. Those principal and interest payments
will be
collected every year until the $42,000,000 bond is repaid in
2019. (In
2006 the School
District refinanced the bond to take advantage of lower interest rates,
reducing the total tax burden). As
with the emergency levies, the assessed tax rate (currently 1.7 mills)
goes down if property values go up or if new construction expands the
tax base, in order to limit the dollar amount collected to the amount
needed to pay the principal and interest on the bond.
1.7 mills
x $30.63 = about $52 in tax for each $100,000 in property value.
Additional bond issues could be placed on the ballot in the future if
additional major expansions or modifications become
necessary.
Voters
would decide whether to approve any such issue.
A construction
bond was placed on the ballot in November 2007 and March 2008 but did
not pass. Given the extent of past and future residential
growth,
and the age and size of the existing school buildings, the bond issue
will be on the November 2008 ballot. For more information on the proposed bond
issue, please see the following:
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Levies we
don't vote on at all
In the 1970s and 1980s, Beavercreek voters approved several continuing,
non-expiring levies for general operating funds at an original total of
26.2
mills. As property values have risen, the assessed millage
has
been
gradually reduced to a current total
of 15.4 mills.
In
addition to the voted (or "outside")
levies, the school district has a
4.6
mill "inside"
levy for general operating expenses and a 1.0 mill inside levy
for permanent improvements. Inside levies are
not
voted
on and
don't get
reduced to compensate for rising
property values. State law provides for such inside
levies, but no more can be added.
As
discussed above, state law also requires tax rates to be reduced in
proportion to rising
property
values, to protect property owners from unvoted tax
increases.
But it also set a 20-mill
"floor" for reductions to general-fund taxes,
to partially protect school districts from permanently facing a fixed
income
while costs go up over time. The 4.6 mill inside levy plus
the
15.4 mill continuing levies equal the 20 mill floor, so the continuing
levies cannot be reduced any further and will remain at 15.4 mills.
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The
dollar amount collected by these
levies goes up over time, as property values increase and as new
construction expands the tax base. The 20 mill general-fund
floor
plus the
1.0 mill inside levy for permanent improvements equal 21 mills.
21 mills
x $30.63 = about $643 in tax for each $100,000 in property value.
Unlike all the other school
levies, the amount you are
paying on the inside levies and continuing levies will go
up as property values go up.
When
new homes are
built, the new property owners will pay the same 21 mills as everyone
else, so the school district will receive additional general-fund
revenues from these levies to help pay for teaching and
busing the students who live in
those new homes. |
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| The
Beavercreek
School District website
contains additional
information about how school levies work. From the main page,
click on Administration --> Treasurer --> Understanding
School
Finance. |
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Comparative cost and performance
records
for the 2000-2001 through
2006-2007 school years, averaged together
2007-2008 performance
records added October 4, 2008
2007-2008 financial records will be added after they are published by the Ohio Department of Education
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| School District |
Total cost
per student |
Administrative cost as a %
of total expenditures |
Years rated "Excellent" by
Ohio Dept of Education |
Current
report cards |
Sugarcreek
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$7,656
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11.43%
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Five of eight
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07-08 |
06-07 |
-
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Beavercreek
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$7,904
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9.64%
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All
eight years*
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07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
Miamisburg
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$8,092
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11.37%
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Six of eight
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07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
| Fairborn |
$8,124 |
10.77% |
None of eight |
07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
| Huber Heights |
$8,230 |
9.13% |
None of eight |
07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
| Vandalia |
$8,516 |
11.89% |
Four of eight |
07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
Centerville
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$8,525
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8.41%
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All
eight years*
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07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
| Xenia |
$8,545 |
12.30% |
One of eight |
07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
Ohio state average
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$8,694
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12.26%
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-
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- |
- |
- |
Average of these 13 local districts
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$8,850
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12.01%
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-
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- |
- |
- |
| Oakwood |
$9,056 |
15.00% |
All
eight years* |
07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
| Trotwood-Madison |
$9,293 |
14.13% |
None of eight |
07-08 |
06-07 |
-
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| Kettering |
$9,384 |
12.61% |
One of eight |
07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
| Yellow Springs |
$9,952 |
16.43% |
Three of eight |
07-08 |
06-07 |
- |
Dayton
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$11,769
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13.06%
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None of eight
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07-08 |
06-07 |
05-06 |
| *Rated "Excellent with Distinction" for 2007-2008 school year. |
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This table is a condensed summary of reports
available from the Ohio Department
of Education website <ilrc.ode.state.oh.us>.
Click here for a
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet I downloaded from that website,
which shows total and per-student cost figures for each district by
year, broken down by Administrative, Building Operations, Staff
Support, Pupil Support, Instructional, and Total Expenditures.
(I added colors, totals, and averages, but I did not change
any of the district data).
If
you need a viewer for Excel, Microsoft has a free download at
www.microsoft.com/downloads. From there, click on
"Home and Office" then "Excel Viewer 2003."
Click
here for a spreadsheet listing overall ratings for each district by year.
If you would prefer to run your own reports, go to
<ilrc.ode.state.oh.us>,
click on "Power User Reports" and choose the type of report you want,
the years, and the school districts. I chose these thirteen
districts because they're close to Beavercreek.
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For the 2007-2008 school year,
the Ohio Department of Education added a new "highest" rating,
Excellent With Distinction, awarded to districts which otherwise meet
the criteria for an Excellent rating but in addition have shown greater
than expected progress on student achievement tests for at least two
consecutive years. Beavercreek was one of 74 (out of 611)
districts across the state to receive that rating. When a state
Board of Education member was not available to speak to the Beavercreek
City Council about what the new rating meant, the school superintendent
asked me if I would. I did so, using the slides and source
documents below.
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