JEROMESVILLE — Hillsdale Local Schools’ treasurer, Lesa Deter, offered a snapshot of the district’s future financial situation at Tuesday’s board meeting.
According to Deter, the district is projected to end this school year with $7,583,661 in its bank account, staying in the black through 2026.
But, by the end of the 2027-2028 year, the district could face a budget shortfall of around $7 million without the passage of renewal levies.
“The district would need to cut its F(iscal) Y(ear) 2028 projected expenses by 35.02% in order to balance its budget without additional revenue,” stated a copy of the financial forecast the district handed out at the meeting.
Should the district fail to earn additional revenue, it would have to look at reducing expenses going into 2029. Deter said there are possibilities for the district to gain additional revenue, though.
Levy renewals
Renewal levies are one possibility for additional revenue.
The board approved two resolutions regarding levies at its Tuesday meeting, both with a 5-0 vote. The resolutions requested the county auditor to certify information for the renewals of a 20.1 operating levy and a 1.4 permanent improvement levy, respectively.
Both those levies, once certified, will be on the November 2024 ballot, Deter said. Since they would be renewals, it wouldn’t be any new cost to taxpayers.
Cindy Funk, the county auditor, said Thursday the levies have been put forward as continuing levies. Typically, the district has put them forward as five-year renewal levies.
That means, should voters approve both levies come November, the district wouldn’t have to take them back to voters in five years to renew the levies again.
Ongoing Rover Pipeline appeals
“This could all change if we have the Rover settlement come in,” Deter told the board Tuesday.
The over 700-mile pipeline runs through Ohio, including parts of Ashland County. Tax revenue from the pipeline flowed into local government entities. That included school districts, and the revenue funded Hillsdale’s new facility, according to previous Ashland Source reporting.
In 2019, the tax commissioner’s experts valued the pipeline at $5.67 billion, while Rover valued it at $3.317 billion. The pipeline appealed to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, hoping to pay the value it desired.
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals’ agency finding, filed in the Supreme Court April 5, stated, “Rover’s opinion of value is close to 50% below its actual costs.” It recommended the tax commissioner to assess the pipeline based on her experts’ appraisal.
Rover has since appealed the Board of Tax Appeals’ decision to the Ohio Supreme Court. The case remains open in the Supreme Court as of May 23.
Funk, Ashland County’s auditor, explained Rover has been “tender paying” based on its evaluation.
But, should the Supreme Court return a decision stating the pipeline’s value is more than what they’ve been paying, the pipeline would have to pay the rest of the value. In that case, Hillsdale would receive windfall dollars from the pipeline.
In Funk’s opinion, the pipeline should be paying more than what it’s tender paid. That decision, though, remains in the hands of the Ohio Supreme Court.
If the district receives any funds from the pipeline when the case is settled, Deter said, it could choose to use them to help pay the loans it took out for its new facility. The district could also keep the Rover dollars in its general fund, bolstering its bottom line.
