District Finance

Along with our students - Finance Friday is back for the 24-25 school year.

School districts in Ohio have a fiscal year that reports financial data July 1 through June 30,  in alignment with the school year that runs August through May.

Over the summer, we closed the books from the 23-24 fiscal year. Our FY24 year-end report for the general operating fund, including revenue and expenditure highlights, can be found here.

Wyoming City Schools received our 1st quarter distribution of income taxes last month.  

Income tax receipts were down 2.39% compared to the FY24 1st quarter disbursement.

Overall, income tax represents 34% of our total revenue in the general fund.

For more information on Wyoming City Schools income tax, click here.

The November Wyoming Primary Schools bond issue calls for 7.98 mills to raise $72.5 million for the construction of three new K-4 primary schools.  

The net impact on taxes if the bond issue passes is 4.62 mills, as the millage from the 1998 WHS bond issue will roll off when the WHS debt is paid off this December. This net 4.62 mills will increase taxes $161.61 annually for each $100,000 of market value.  

A little history on the WHS bond issue: The 8.2-mill WHS bond issue was approved by 60% of Wyoming voters in May 1998 and raised $24 million for renovations across the District and the construction of Pendery Center for the Arts, including the auditorium, and additional classrooms at WHS. Pendery Center for the Arts opened in 2000. This bond issue was last refunded (similar to refinancing a home mortgage) in 2015 to achieve lower interest rates and shorten the life of the debt. This resulted in lower millage paid by taxpayers and an earlier payoff. The final payment will occur in December 2024 - three years earlier than the original ballot language stating 2027.

How about casino gambling?

Technically, yes, but not as much as you might think.

According to a news release, the Ohio Lottery recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the state's first day of ticket sales on August 12, 1974.

Since 1974, the Ohio Lottery has generated $96.4 billion in sales and awarded $57.7 billion in prizes to Ohio Lottery winners. The Ohio Lottery has generated $31.5 billion for the Lottery Profits Education Fund (LPEF), which does indeed provide funding to K-12 schools (not just public schools). Over 50 years, that's an average $630 million per year. 

Ohio's casinos first opened in May of 2012 in Cleveland and Toledo. Cincinnati followed in February of 2013.  Each casino is required to file and remit taxes daily to the State of Ohio. That revenue accumulates in the Ohio Casino Tax Revenue fund and 34% is distributed to all schools (not just public schools) across Ohio based upon student population. Schools receive direct distributions twice a year - on January 31 and August 31. The distribution for Wyoming City Schools in August 2024 was $63,576.26. You can see the entire Hamilton County distribution list here.

The Hamilton County Board of Elections has finalized the ballot language as it will appear on the November 5, 2024 ballot. Remember, the ballot language must include the full voted millage of 7.98 mills, but the true increase will be 4.62 mills when the WHS bond issue is paid off in December!

Wyoming City Schools recently received our final settlement of property taxes for Calendar Year 2024.  Property values increased 29% during the 2023 reappraisal, but Wyoming City Schools' total property tax revenue only increased 3.89%. This is due to Ohio House Bill (920), passed in 1976, which limits the growth of voted property tax levies.

2023 Calendar Year WCS Property Tax Revenue: $11,625,136

2024 Calendar Year WCS Property Tax Revenue: $12,077,612

HB920 works by reducing what is called the "effective millage," or tax rate, so that the homeowner pays roughly the same amount of taxes they did the year before, all other factors being equal.  Therefore, a school district collects roughly the same amount as it did the year before the reappraisal on voted operating levies. Said another way, as property values increase, the tax rate decreases, so school districts receive the same amount of money for voted operating levies.

Wyoming carefully prioritizes our resources to focus on staffing, materials and programming that best impact student achievement.

The Ohio Department of Education & Workforce recently released 2023-2024 spending data for Ohio's public schools and Wyoming spends 76.1% of our funds on classroom instruction, the highest percentage of any school district in Hamilton County. We are ranked #2 out of 262 districts similar to us across the state.

For assistance in calculating the cost of the Wyoming Primary Schools November 5, 2024, bond levy, watch this brief video:

https://youtu.be/_V8P-Oq7l7M?si=lqM_uMXrlqVndQER

For additional assistance, email Treasurer Ronda Johnson at johnsonr@wyomingcityschools.org

At this time, we are not pursuing participation in Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) funding.

OFCC will not fund any school building with less than 350 students. For our primary bond issue, the conceptual designs allocate square footage based on enrollment of 200 students at Elm School, 200 students at Vermont School and 350 students at Hilltop School. 

The total current enrollment at our primary schools is 675 students. In the past 20 years, our highest total primary school enrollment has been 722 students. The Wyoming Primary Schools Master Plan builds for the future and for flexibility in placing students at their “home” primary school. (This plan will not allow for permanent attendance zones but it will allow us some greater flexibility when working to place students at the school most close to their home geographically.)

OFCC performs enrollment projections to determine funding. When we investigated OFCC funding prior to the WMS Bond Issue in 2012, OFCC funding was based on a master plan including only 2 primary schools. At that time, the OFCC was forecasting K-4 enrollment of 609-654 for our primary schools. Through an extensive community engagement process, we heard that consolidating to two regional schools  - as opposed to three neighborhood schools - was not a popular plan in Wyoming.  

There is no circumstance in which the OFCC will co-fund three primary schools for Wyoming City Schools.    

For additional background, Indian Hill, Madeira, Mariemont, and Sycamore did not participate in OFCC funding for their recent projects.

The Ohio Auditor of State is the constitutional officer responsible for auditing all public offices in Ohio, which encompass more than 5,900 local governments, agencies and organizations. Some of these financial audits are released to be performed by Independent Public Accounting (IPA) firms. Our auditors - Plattenburg & Associates, Inc. CPAs - were on site this week to begin their annual field work, reviewing the methods, accuracy, and legality of accounts, financial reports, records, and files for the 2023-24 fiscal year.  

Audit reports for previous years can be found here (enter Wyoming City Schools in the Entity Name field).

More financial information can be found in the 2024 Wyoming City Schools Quality Profile.

Wyoming City Schools received our 2nd quarterly distribution of income taxes the last week of October.  

Income tax receipts rebounded a bit and increased 5.32% compared to the FY24 2nd quarterly disbursement. 

Overall, income tax represents 31% of our total revenue in the general fund.

For more information on Wyoming City Schools income tax, click here.

Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code, the Board of Elections has 21 days after the date of an election to certify the election results. During that time, the Wyoming City Schools Board of Education will plan for a resolution certifying the placement of the tax on the 2024 tax duplicate for first collection in 2025. This resolution must be approved by the Hamilton County Auditor prior to November 30. 

The Board will also consider a small issuance - approximately $15 million - of tax anticipation notes before the end of 2024. (Issuing the bonds is a lengthier process that is likely to occur in early Spring 2025.) With these notes, the Board can begin the statutory process for selecting an architect, with the first step of sharing a Request for Qualifications from architecture firms.

Recently, the Hamilton County Auditor returned $20 million of surplus revenue in the Real Estate Assessment (REA) fund to local governments, including school districts. The refund to Wyoming City Schools was $173,544.89.

Ohio law provides that a percentage of every voted tax levy be set aside to pay the Hamilton County Auditor and Treasurer fees for the assessment and collection of property taxes, as well as a very small percentage for reappraisal paid directly to the REA fund. The REA fund pays the expenses for county-wide reappraisal. Annually, total fees paid by Wyoming City Schools to the County Auditor and Treasurer are approximately $196,000.

Wyoming passed a $72.5 million bond issue to build new primary schools. Read on to learn more about municipal bond issues and the upcoming process.

What is a municipal bond?

A municipal bond is essentially a promise to repay money. It is a debt security issued by the state, local governments, or school districts to finance capital expenditures, such as the construction of highways, parks, bridges, or schools.

How do they work?

Municipal bonds act like loans with bondholders becoming creditors. The bonds are sold through a public offering of securities which offers the bonds to investors who, in purchasing the bonds, effectively loan the money to the school district. They are attractive to investors because they are generally issued as tax-exempt bonds (interest paid is tax free) which allows the local government or school district to receive the funds at a low interest rate. It’s important to note that school district bonds require voter approval and have the backing of the tax base of the school district - meaning the district collects revenue by taxing property owners.

What is the timeline?

Wyoming City Schools will prepare and issue a Preliminary Official Statement in early spring and request an updated rating from the rating agency. Wyoming City Schools is currently rated Aa2 under Moody’s Rating Scale, which is defined as “judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.” We expect to issue the bonds in mid to late spring.

The District made the final principal and interest payments on the 1998 bond issue on December 1st. With those final debt service payments, the 1998 bond issue - which added classrooms and Pendery Auditorium at Wyoming High School - is fully paid off!

The District refinanced the debt twice over the years, resulting in lower interest payments and paying off the debt three years early.

It's been a big week leading up to winter break so we are adding bonus facilities info to today’s Finance Friday!

FINANCE:  On December 17th, the District issued $15 million in Bond Anticipation Notes as the first step in funding the Primary Facilities Project. The notes, issued at a 3.15% yield, will mature in May and be paid off with a portion of the $72.5 million in bond proceeds after the bonds are sold in the spring.  

FACILITIES:  On December 16th, the Board of Education voted to continue the partnership with Ruetschle Architects for professional design services for our Primary Facilities Project. The District engaged with Ruetschle back in 2012 to design the Wyoming Middle School expansion and renovation project and again in 2023 for Master Planning of our primary facilities.

Property taxes are approved by voters, assessed by the County Auditor, and collected by the County Treasurer. The Hamilton County Treasurer's Office has shared that first half tax bills will be mailed January 14th. You can see the new tax bill amounts - including the new tax rates - at www.hamilton county auditor.org.

2025 tax rates for Wyoming City Schools reflect the 2024 Primary Bond Issue (7.98 mills) less the payoff of the 1998 WHS Bond Issue (3.36 mills).  Any property valuation changes due to Board of Revision adjustments will also be reflected in the January tax bill.

The Wyoming City Schools Board of Education recently joined more than 160 other Ohio public school districts in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the State of Ohio’s $1 billion EdChoice private school voucher expansion.

WCS’s participation in the lawsuit is aimed at preserving state education funding for public schools:

• Since 2019, the state has increased spending on vouchers to private schools from $346 million to nearly $1 billion (with more than 90% of this funding going to religious schools).
• Since 2019, there has been no increase in state funding for Wyoming City Schools (which has been flatlined at $5.9 million).

The education funding debate in the Ohio legislature is just now beginning for the State's next biennium budget.