School finance isn't typically at the top of everyone's mind with so many other issues and busy schedules competing for your attention. Rest assured that Marysville Schools is constantly looking for ways to offer a top notch education to our students while keeping a close eye on the budget. You may not be aware that the average per pupil cost to educate a Marysville student is $12,775, which is well below the state average of $14,686. At the same time, our total revenue per pupil is $12,365, well below the state average of $16,457. When you consider these facts along with a performance index that is among the top 20% of all schools in Ohio, Marysville Schools truly is doing more with less. Even with annual enrollment growing by over 100 students per year on average and record inflation, we have been able to maintain our high level of service without additional tax revenue. We were fortunate this year to receive a significant increase in State funding that allowed the district to push the next levy ask back to November 2024.
The two main sources of our operating revenue are local and state funding. Our local funding comes from tax revenues, as provided through school district levies. The last new money levy the district passed was in 2008 so we have stretched that last levy for 15 years. The main reason we don't see significant growth in our local revenue is due to a law known as House Bill 920. This law basically locks down revenue from school levies so that schools will not receive more income when property values rise, meaning that a local school levy produces a fixed number of dollars while costs tend to rise with growth and inflation over time. This also protects taxpayers from unvoted tax increases. The main source of our state funds is the state foundation funding formula, otherwise known as per pupil funding. As you've likely heard me say in the past, the state views Marysville as a relatively wealthy community as compared across the state so that the funding formula is not favorable for funding increases to the district. While we did receive a large increase this year, those local wealth factors will likely minimize future increases. On top of that, the Tangible Personal Property Tax reimbursement funding provided by the state began phasing out in 2016, decreasing by $500k-$600k annually. This funding will be completely gone next year which equates to a loss of $5.6 million and is the equivalent of having a 5 mill levy wiped off our books.
If you have any questions regarding the school's finances, please contact me.