CVCC maintains financial stability amid property tax changes

by Sheldon Ocker

The Ohio General Assembly’s recent focus on property tax reform has left many school districts scrambling to mitigate reductions in state funding.

Revere Local Schools, for example, is anticipating a loss of $1.4 million from the state for the current school year and continued reductions in the future. By contrast, Cuyahoga Valley Career Center in Brecksville, which is supported by eight school districts, expects to be only minimally challenged by tax reform.

“Financially, they’re in great shape,” said Rick Berdine, CVCC treasurer, who holds the same position with Revere.

“I can’t remember the last time CVCC passed a levy,” Berdine said. “I bet it was 25 years ago.”

Most school districts are under pressure to ask voters for more operating money every seven to 10 years.

The state requires treasurers of all public school districts to create twice-yearly five-year financial forecasts. Berdine recently presented his latest predictions to the CVCC board.

“In the forecast that’s out right now, five years out, there is zero discussion of any need [for a new levy],” he said.

Berdine said CVCC expects a decline of about $900,000 in tax dollars this year, but “we’ve already made a couple of decisions to mitigate the losses.”

CVCC draws students from a wide swath of communities and school districts in Summit and Cuyahoga counties. CVCC serves eight school districts: Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, Garfield Heights, Independence, Nordonia, North Royalton, Revere and Twinsburg.

According to Berdine, 25 communities contribute property tax dollars to CVCC. Berdine said the value of the property contained in these municipalities is more than $7 billion. The Revere district, composed primarily of Bath Township, Richfield Village and Richfield Township, has a property valuation of $1.6 billion.

“Independence is a small district, maybe only a thousand students, but it has Rockside Road,” said Berdine, referring to a strip of retail and commercial properties to the east and west of Interstate 77.

Because CVCC has such a broad base of property tax funding, it operates on two mills of tax levies, according to Berdine. By contrast, Revere, with a budget of about $50 million, receives 27 mills of tax revenue.

The CVCC board tries to ensure that the district has a financial cushion.

“The board passed a resolution. They’d like us to try and have a spending reserve of one year’s expenses,” Berdine said. “That floor is set at $18 million.”

CVCC currently spends about $20 million per year, but the operating budget includes around $2 million in capital projects because the district does not have a permanent improvement fund. This is why the one-year reserve is $2 million short of actual expenditures.

Berdine said CVCC receives 75% of its revenue from property taxes and 10% from the state.

He added that the district relies on grants and other state-generated money. Individuals and businesses make donations to the school, virtually all earmarked for specific programs.

Berdine said CVCC recently received a $9 million facilities grant from the state to expand two lab areas.

CVCC trains high school students and adults in occupational fields ranging from cosmetology and telecommunications to construction trades, food preparation, auto body repair and computer programming.

Enrollment includes high school juniors and seniors who spend half their school day at CVCC and the other half in their home districts.

In addition, there are adult classes mostly in the evenings that are tuition-based.

The CVCC curriculum is ever changing. Berdine said the school is in the process of creating a registered nursing program.