Cloverleaf states its intent to keep promise of no new funding until 2032 despite impacts of state legislation

WESTFIELD TWP. — Cloverleaf Schools said it will follow through on its promise to not ask for new funding until 2032 or beyond, even though new state legislation will affect the district's budget. Cloverleaf Treasurer Jim Hudson gave a fiscal forecast to the board of education during its meeting Wednesday. "Cloverleaf is very fortunate that we have strategically planned since the days we were in fiscal emergency," he said. "We had a plan, we've implemented it and now we're monitoring that plan. I think Cloverleaf is in a really good situation." House Bill 129 will include emergency levies in the 20-mill floor calculation, Hudson said. It will affect the 2028-29 collections with an estimated $1 million potential impact on the district. "Now that that's being calculated against 20-mill (floor), what it's going to cause is school districts to go back on the ballot more often, so instead of a four to five-year life cycle for a levy, we might be down to two or three years," he said. "It just depends, and I'm not saying it's us, but just in general across the state. Those levy life cycles are going to be a lot more narrow than we've seen historically." Cloverleaf will also be affected by three rounds of tax credits in one fiscal year because of House Bill 186, Hudson said. "18.5 million is what we're projecting for this fiscal year," he said. "Moving into next fiscal year it is $17 million, so that's a $1.5 million impact that we're going to see because of some of those credits and some recalculations on a few other items." House Bill 309 expands the power of the county budget commission, which comprises the county auditor, prosecutor and treasurer, to reduce millage if they deem necessary. Hudson does not foresee any issues with the commission. "There are some counties, not Medina County, that have pushed back on a lot of public entities, not just school districts," he said. "There are some that have actually reduced millage on schools. I don't anticipate any of that." This year, Cloverleaf is projecting just under $50 million in revenue, which is lowered to $44 million next year because the house bills will start being implemented, Hudson said. Historically, the district's revenues have exceeded its expenses for the most part, he said. Fiscal year 2027 is the point within the forecast where expenses start to exceed revenues. Cloverleaf has the reserve cash to get the district through that period, Hudson said. The district will have to pass renewals between now and 2032, but the goal is to not ask for additional funds in that time frame. "I'm happy to report that I still think that we can achieve that, even though there are some legislative changes that have negatively affected not only Cloverleaf, but schools across the state of Ohio," he said. "We are able to absorb those reductions." Cloverleaf recently reduced the millage on three levies by 3.22 mills, which equated to more than $3 million in revenue not being collected by the district every year, Hudson said. This was done to keep taxes level for residents while property values are increasing. "Keeping in mind that the board does have the opportunity to increase this back up to that effective millage rate if you guys ever choose to," he said. "I'm not recommending we do that, but that is something that we need to revisit every single year." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.