After careful consideration by the Board of Education throughout the 2023-2024 school year, they decided a 1% earned income tax was more fair and equitable for our community, as opposed to a property tax. Here are the reasons: 

• Nearly 30% of the voters who live within the school district boundaries are on fixed incomes. An earned income tax will not tax social security, retirement, or pension benefits. 

• When property values go up, Findlay City Schools does not collect more money on the voted mileage. We are held flat at what voters told us we could collect. We are over-reliant on property taxes and we do not get inflationary increases with property taxes. It is time to diversify revenue streams. 

• Unlike a property tax, with an earned income tax, we all rise and fall together with the economy.

• The Board decided to ask for only what is needed, nothing more. 

No. The earned income tax will not collect from social security benefits. It will also not collect from the following: 

• Retirement income

• Pensions

• IRA distributions

• Unemployment compensation

• Workers’ compensation

• Interest and dividends

• Capital gains

• Alimony received

• Profits from rental activities

• Distributions from trusts and estates

A traditional income tax would bring in far more money for the school district, however the Board decided to only ask voters for what is needed, and not more. 

The city collects a traditional, municipal income tax of 1% that collects between 30 and 36 million dollars per year. This is very different from what a school earned income tax would collect. Here is how it is different from how the city collects their income tax: 

• The earned income tax of 1% would only collect from those people who live within the Findlay City School district boundaries.

• The earned income tax would not collect from social security, pensions, retirement benefits, IRA distributions, workers’ compensation, and much more. 

• The 1% earned income tax would generate about 12.7 million dollars annually, about one-third of what the city is collecting. The Board decided to only ask voters for what is needed, and not more. 

When property values go up, Findlay City Schools does not collect more money on the voted mileage. We are held flat at what voters told us we could collect, which is the law in the state of Ohio (HB 920). 

As are most of the 600-plus school districts in Ohio, FCS is over-reliant on property taxes and we do not get inflationary increases with property taxes. It is time to diversify revenue streams. 

Yes. The district collects about 23.7-mills of voter approved property taxes, however that number decreases over time as property values go up. 

Collecting an earned income tax along with a property tax helps diversify the operating revenue for the school district, ideally making it more financially stable for longer periods of time. 

It has been nearly twenty years (2004) since voters approved new operating money, which primarily covers salaries and benefits for staff. Operating money is also used to cover utility bills along with some repairs, materials and basic equipment to help us run the district on a daily basis. 

The district is deficit spending, meaning it is spending more than it is bringing in, to pay the current bills.

To keep costs in check over time, from 2004 to 2020, the district consolidated three middle schools into two, closed two elementary schools, updated aspects of the buildings to reduce energy bills long term, and reduced staff through attrition and not backfilling positions. 

When the pandemic hit, the Federal government provided FCS with ESSER money, which helped sustain the district from 2020 through 2024. Those Federal funds run out on Sept. 30, 2024. 

If the levy doesn’t pass in November, the Board will have to engage in likely cuts for the 2025-2026 school year of 5-million dollars. Follow this link for more information. 

The Board would likely be back on the ballot in May of 2025. Should the Board be unsuccessful again, a second round of likely cuts would be implemented for the 2026-2027 school year of about 4-million additional dollars.

The turf was funded through a combination of generous donors, the Trojan Club athletic boosters, and Permanent Improvement dollars.  Operating funds can't be used for turf, and the money used for turf can't be use for operating expenses. 

Donnell Stadium has been funded through the Donnell Foundation, which was created in 1936. 

Millstream has been awarded two grants through the state of Ohio which will allow for the expansion of programs and equipment!