Ohio School Levy Information

Ohio school levies are crucial financial measures that local school districts often rely on to fund their educational programs and operations. These levies are typically presented as ballot initiatives to voters within a school district, seeking approval for additional property taxes or renewing existing ones. Revenue generated from these levies plays a vital role in supporting various aspects of the education system, including teacher salaries, classroom resources, extracurricular activities, and facility maintenance. The approval of school levies is pivotal for maintaining and improving the quality of education in Ohio's public schools, and they are a subject of local community involvement and decision-making.

Our goal is to make sure you know the facts about Brookfield Local Schools. This page is dedicated to providing our community with information that helps explain how our school district is using taxpayer dollars to provide children with the best education possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Are School Districts Financed?

School districts in Ohio are financed with a combination of federal, state and local funds. At the state level, school districts receive funding from the Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) general revenue funds and Ohio Lottery profits. At the local level, school districts receive funding from locally levied property taxes. School districts also can receive funding from income taxes approved by voters.

What is a Property Tax Levy?

A property tax levy is the collection of taxes charged on the value of property. Each district must follow a process described in Ohio law in order for taxes to be levied on property within the district. Boards of education propose additional local tax revenues by board resolution. School districts can place a levy on the ballot up to three times a year on specified election dates. If a majority of voters in an election approve the tax, county officials charge and collect the tax under the terms specified in the tax levy proposal. The collected funds are then disbursed to the district. When a levy is placed on the ballot, it must identify as its objective a legally defined school district purpose.

What Are the Different Types of School Levies?

Bond Levy

Cannot be used for daily operations
For buildings, building improvements or land acquisition
Debt charges are paid on outstanding debt
Expressed in mills

Emergency Levy

For day-to-day operating expenses
Expressed in dollars
Must generate a fixed dollar amount each year it is in effect
Cannot exceed a period of 10 years

Operating Levy

For day-to-day operating expenses
Expressed in mills
For a specified period of time or for a continuing period of time

Permanent Improvement (PI) Levy

Cannot be used for daily operations
For improvements with an expected life of 5 years or more
Expressed in mills

What Is A Mill?

The Ohio property tax rate is called a “mill.” A mill is defined as one-tenth of a percent or one-tenth of a cent (0.1 cents). Millage is the factor applied to the assessed value of property to produce tax revenue. There are three types of mills - inside/unvoted, outside/voted, and effective. A breakdown of each one is listed here.

Inside or unvoted mills: Millage imposed by local governments without voter approval as defined in the Ohio Constitution. The constitutional limit for these taxes is 1% or 10 mills. Public schools, cities, counties and other local governments within a taxing district are allocated a portion of the inside mills collected within the district.

Outside or voted mills: Millage approved by voters. Outside mills are subject to the property tax reduction factor.

Effective mills: In the case of real property, a difference can exist between a tax levy’s rate as authorized by the voters and the actual amount of mills charged against a district’s assessed valuation. The effective millage rate reflects the fact that the original number of voted mills has received an adjustment to compensate for the impact of inflation on real property values.

How Do the Amount of Mills Get Determined?

Boards of education propose levies as a specific dollar amount of new revenue. That proposal is reviewed by the county auditor, who determines the actual millage necessary to produce the dollar amount.

Does the millage rate apply to 100% of my home value?

No. The millage rate only applies to 35% of your home value, not 100%.

The current appraised value of a property is multiplied by 35% to arrive at the property's taxable value. The taxable value is then divided by 1,000 and multiplied by the millage amount.

Formula = Appraised home value x (.35/1000) x millage amount

Example for a 3.2 mill levy for a home with an appraised value of $100,000

$100,000 x (.35/1000) x 3.2

$100,000 x (.00035) x 3.2

$35 x 3.2

= $112 annual property tax increase ($9.33/month)