Medina County Budget Commission asking Brunswick City Schools to cut nearly $2 million in funding

BRUNSWICK — Brunswick Schools is being asked by the Medina County Budget Commission to roll back $1.9 million in tax collection for fiscal year 2027, which the school district is opposing. The matter was discussed at a special board of education meeting on Monday. House Bill 309 expands the power of the county budget commission, which is made up of the county auditor, prosecutor and treasurer, to reduce millage if they deem it necessary. Superintendent Jason Niedermeyer said the district went in front of the budget commission on Feb. 25 with a presentation. He described the communication between the district and the commission as "adversarial." "At the end of the day, there's a great deal of scrutiny related to our cash carryover balance for our school district," he said. "Their job is to determine whether our forecast shows that our carryover is unnecessary or excessive." The commission challenged how Brunswick Schools is financially structured during its March 6 meeting, with concerns raised regarding the number of fixed-sum levies the district has, Niedermeyer said. Formal definitions for "unnecessary" and "excessive" regarding school funding have not been established. "(We've done work) with our community over the past several years trying to educate our community and share our financial makeup," he said. "We don't feel that we are in a position that you could characterize anything about our budget as unnecessary or excessive." Medina County Educational Service Center Superintendent Robert Hlasko developed a statement of facts and questions regarding the budget commission's review process. Niedermeyer said one concern listed was the alleged lack of a standard evaluation process. "If you listen to the recording, where they were coming up with their methodology for asking us to roll back $1.9 million is very confusing," Niedermeyer said. "There was a denial of opportunity to be heard. We were not given any meaningful opportunity to present information to them to refute that $1.9 million rollback that they wanted." The budgets of some Medina County districts were approved, but others like Brunswick, Buckeye, Cloverleaf and Highland are being asked by the budget commission to cut their funding, Niedermeyer said. "Brunswick is not the only one asking these questions," Treasurer Mark Pepera said. "These are questions that are all pertinent to all the county school districts. We have still yet to receive a response on any of these questions (as of Monday)." The board of education is required by law to certify the tax levy rate for the subsequent year by April 1, Pepera said. On Monday, the board passed a resolution to request an extension from the Ohio Department of Taxation as a precautionary measure to avoid missing the deadline. "Before you today is a resolution in order to protect the district because our board doesn't have enough information at your fingertips to make an informed decision," he said. "You don't have the information back from the county." The county budget commission will be meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the county administration building to discuss final decisions for fiscal year 2027 school tax budgets. "This is a hiccup, and we will persevere," Niedermeyer said. "We will work our way through this, and we know that our community will have our back." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.