BBH schools eye May ballot for operating levy

by Melissa Martin

Brecksville-Broadview Heights school administrators are targeting the May 2027 ballot for a proposed 5.9-mill operating levy.

Without any new revenue, Treasurer Craig Yaniglos said the district is on track to begin deficit spending in the next three years as its general fund cash balances are predicted to fall to less than $135,000 by June 2030. If the district doesn’t take action to generate new revenue, he said, the district will end up about $755,000 in the red by the end of 2030.

“Passing a proposed new money levy in 2027 reverses this trend entirely, securing our district’s long-term financial health,” Yaniglos said.

Yaniglos said district expenditures are rising 3.26% annually because of higher health care costs, while revenue growth averages only about 0.12%. Compounding matters, state funding increases have flattened, leaving local taxpayers to cover a larger share of operating costs than they have in previous years.

“Planning for a new levy is critical to our long-term stability,” Yaniglos said, noting the proposed 5.9-mill levy would cost property owners approximately $207 a year for each $100,000 in property value.

If voters passed the proposed May 2027 levy, the district would have an estimated $23.3 million in reserves in fiscal year 2030, Yaniglos said. More importantly, he said, the levy would also allow the district to maintain its policy of having at least 90 days’ worth of cash on hand – a policy the district would be unable to maintain without securing new revenue.

Superintendent Jeffrey Harrison said there is plenty of time to discuss the issue further with the school board in the coming months, but told members they must take action by the end of the year to place a levy on the May 2027 ballot.

Harrison said that as of next spring, it will be 10 years since the district asked voters for new operating dollars, which currently funds employee salaries and benefits. Most recently, he noted, the district passed a 35-year, 2.2-mill, $45.5 million bond issue in May 2018, which funded the construction of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Elementary School. The remainder of that funding has also been used to fund a list of renovations at Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle and High Schools.

Yaniglos said the administration recommended the board keep the levy under 6 mills to increase its chances of passage at the polls; however, board members questioned whether 5.9 mills was enough to keep the board from having to go back to voters two to three years later.

Yaniglos said that with prudent spending, the administration doesn’t foresee returning to the ballot for more operating funds for six to eight years if the proposed levy is passed.

Dosen told the administration the board is more concerned about the rate of deficit spending.

“The important thing is not that you’re starting to deficit-spend, but it’s how fast,” he said. “When are you going to get to the point where you’re going to run out?”