District-by-district funding simulations of the state budget’s school funding formula for FY 2026-27 can be seen here. Simulations for joint vocational school districts can be seen here.
The Ohio House will convene on Monday, July 21, at 11 a.m. to consider veto overrides for the following items:
- Item 55 – Property tax: County budget commission authority and procedure
- The veto removed provisions allowing county budget commissions (CBCs) to reduce millage on any voter-approved tax levy except a debt levy. This provision presents concerns about constitutional uniformity. Over one-third of Ohio school districts span multiple counties. All residents of a school district vote on school levies, regardless of their county of residence. Under these provisions, a single county budget commission could lower the millage for the residents in its county, creating uniformity issues for residents in the other counties.
- Item 65 – 20-mill floor calculation
- The veto removed provisions that changed which levies are included in the 20-mill floor calculation. Under the bill, emergency levies, substitute levies, incremental growth levies, conversion levies and the property tax portion of combined levies would all count toward the 20-mill floor. If the provisions are restored, approximately 200 districts will no longer be at “the floor”, which means they will have no mechanism to deal with inflation. In many of these districts, “new money” levies are simply not possible. These changes will result in more frequent levy requests being put before voters and will disproportionately impact small, rural districts. This will increase the likelihood that districts will face fiscal emergencies and require state solvency assistance.
- Item 66 – School district property tax levy restrictions
- The governor vetoed provisions that eliminated districts’ ability to levy replacement property tax levies as well as fixed-sum emergency, substitute emergency and combined school district income tax and fixed-sum property tax levies. Each school district is unique, and the levies passed by each community’s voters reflect the needs of that community. Communities may prefer to levy a fixed-sum levy rather than asking for new operating (millage) levy dollars to maintain existing services.
Please contact your representative and ask them to vote no on the veto override of these items. Thank you for your ongoing advocacy for your districts and students. You're making a difference!
OSBA BASA OASBO Biennial Budget Review Workshop
Registration is open for OSBA, BASA and OASBO’s joint Biennial Budget Review workshop. At this seminar, our associations will provide an in-depth analysis of the signed FY26-27 state biennial budget. The workshop will take place on Monday, July 28 from 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Hilton Polaris in Columbus. Additional details and a link to register for the workshop can be found here.
Federal update
Please click here to read the most recent Federal Advocacy Report, which includes up-to-date information on federal education efforts. Click here to read the most recent Federal Court Report.
Our partners at COSSBA are hosting a Supreme Court Wrap Up Webinar on Wednesday, July 30 at 3:00 p.m. The webinar will discuss the major decisions impacting public education from the recently concluded 2025 Supreme Court term. More information and the link to register can be found here.