WCS School Revenue Q&A

Under what parameters are Ohio schools funded?
In the energized arena of Ohio school finance there are acknowledged realities that include:

1. Our federal and state governments have established a public education system available to every child
2. Education comes with expense
3. Expenses must be met with investment
4. In Ohio, the responsibility of investing in the public education of each child is to be met through a combination of federal, state, and local tax dollars
5. Ohio legislators have regulated the available vehicles of school funding on a local level to include property and income taxes
6. State tax dollars are met with more demand with each passing year

What is the WCS annual budget?
In school year 2006-2007 WCS received $24,000,000 in revenue to educate 3200 students.

Where does the money come from?
Local revenue accounts for 62% of WCS revenue while state and federal revenue comprises the remaining 38%.

So why don’t we contribute less as a community and expect the state to contribute more?
The share contributed to each district by the State of Ohio is determined by the economic wealth of a district. The economic wealth of each district in Ohio is calculated by valuating real estate within district lines. By this calculation, of the 600 districts in the state, WCS ranks as the 162nd wealthiest. Keep in mind that this valuation is based on real estate values and not on the average income of the residents of a district. This also means the State of Ohio will support 438 districts with a larger per student contribution than they will WCS, leaving the balance of revenue in the hands of local tax payers.

So how are local funds generated?
Local revenue comes from three sources:

• Real estate property taxes
• Personal property taxes
• Income taxes

Residents and businesses in the District provide one-third of the District’s revenue through real estate property taxes. This source of revenue is somewhat stable and is expected to grow an average of four percent each year.

Real estate tax receipts are restricted by law to certain uses;

• 20.00 mills of property tax, which generates $7,965,304, must be used for general operation of the district – salaries, benefits, supplies, purchased services, equipment, and building improvements
• 3.00 mills generating $1,254,837 must be applied toward the mortgage on the High School and Middle School.
• 0.43 mills generating $172,362 must be used to maintain the High School and Middle School Buildings
• 0.20 mills generating $75,646 must be used for permanent improvements of the facilities.

WCS currently receives personal property taxes, generating $1,550,000, accounting for 6% of all WCS revenue. This is the tax on business inventory. The Stated has begun eliminating this tax on businesses and so by 2009, the District will not receive revenue from this source. Instead, the State has promised to pay Districts a portion of what will be lost. The catch to the state making up for the loss is that it will be reduced over time and will be eliminated entirely by 2011. This strategy is to allow Districts to develop other sources of revenue to replace the loss in revenue. For WCS this is 6% of its annual revenue.

WCS receives “Other” revenue generating $1,014,000 accounting for 4% of all WCS revenue. This revenue is comprised of investment income. WCS invests received revenue in certificates of deposit to maximize the return on taxpayer investment. It is also “local revenue” for students attending the District through open enrollment. There are about 71 students attending from outside the District. Open enrollment revenue is unpredictable.

WCS receives a 1% income tax paid by residents in the district generating $4,060,000 accounting for 18% of all WCS revenue. This is a one-percent tax on income passed by residents of the District in 2002 for 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. In exchange, a 1.84 mill real estate Emergency Levy was not renewed saving the taxpayers $860,000.

WCS receives revenue from the Ohio department of education also called “Foundation revenue.” Foundation revenue generates $8,500,000 accounting for 35% of all revenue. Given the influence of politics on this source of revenue- we think it is best to predict no change. We can count on inflation driving up costs, but we can’t depend on this source of revenue keeping up with inflation. Other revenue from the state ”Homestead and rollback revenue” ($901,000)

So what return am I getting on my investment in WCS?
The Tax Payers were promised that the revenue from Income Taxes would be used for special purposes and the District succeeded in meeting those promises. The District has implemented strategies to:

• Achieve 20 of 25 Indicators on the 2005-2006 State Report Card, which is the most ever achieved by WCS
• Achieve and increase in the number of WCS Students who improved their proficiency scores every year
• Expand class offerings and reduced class size, and offering new programs such as all day and every day kindergarten
• Purchase new textbooks in math, language arts, science and social studies in all grades
• Purchase and maintain new computers and other technology to assist in the instruction of students further enhancing the quality of academics
• Developed a fleet replacement plan replacing two buses annually. Purchased ten buses through a low interest lease purchase arrangement yielding savings in maintenance and operation. The average age of a bus has been reduced from 13 years old to 8 years old.
• Establish programs to manage increases in utilities
• Improve communication between the District and the Community
• Created new course offerings including: Creative Writing, CP Reading Seminar, Life-Time Fitness, Beginning Video Production, Intermediate Video Production, Advanced Video Production, Current Events, OGT Social Studies, OGT Science, Mod. Business Internet, Web page design, Act Review, Problem Solving, Earth Science, Peer Tutoring, Pass Program

What does the future of WCS funding look like?
Some sources of revenue can be reasonably predicted. Other sources of revenue are determined by voters or legislatures and are less easy to predict. This makes planning for the educational programs difficult. Real estate property taxes can be reasonably estimated for the future and the income tax has been a reliable source of income as well. Personal property taxes will be eliminated by 2009. The income tax is in place through 2007. Since local revenue provides WCS more support than state revenue, any change in local revenue will have a greater impact than a change in state revenue.