Renewal of a Substitute Emergency Property Tax Levy on November ballot
(Ballot language shown below)
The Genoa Area Local School District will be placing a renewal request on the November 4, 2025 ballot for the renewal of a Substitute Emergency Property Tax levy. It is important to understand this levy is a RENEWAL and this levy will NOT increase the total taxes charged to current taxpayers.
*House Bill 920 and its Tax Reduction Factor (TRF), which has been mandated by Ohio law since 1976, is designed to keep current existing voted tax charges stable when property values increase or decrease. (See Additional information about HB 920 below)
Renewal levies continue taxation at the same effective rate that is already being paid. The recent increase in residential property values did NOT provide additional funding to the school district from this levy due to House Bill 920’s TRF noted above.
What is a Substitute Emergency Property Tax Levy?
This Substitute Emergency Levy is NOT a new tax to the community.
It continues to substitute (renew) for a current, existing substitute emergency levy. The original emergency levy was first passed in May 2015.
It is essentially the same as the current substitute emergency levy as it will NOT increase the total taxes charged to current taxpayers, but will continue to capture new revenue growth on new construction of real property (new residential homes and businesses) which helps offset some of the need for additional taxes charged to current taxpayers.
It is a renewal levy that is set to be renewed for a continuing period of time.
What Are The Benefits of the renewal levy?
The substitute emergency levy simply continues to collect current taxes from current taxpayers and only collects additional revenue on new real property construction without increasing the existing taxpayer’s tax obligation. (All other active district levies currently do this too)
Revenue generated from the levy will continue to help fund approximately 8% of the day-to-day operational expenses of the district such as utilities, building supplies and maintenance, bus fuel and maintenance, purchased services and personnel.
When there is new construction (residential homes or businesses) within our district, the new construction would bring in additional tax revenue. New construction allows the value of the Substitute Emergency Levy to grow, which reduces the amount needed for future levies and extends the timetable for the need of new levies.
Ohio House Bill 920, enacted in 1976, is designed to limit the amount of property tax that can increase as property values rise. In Ohio, property taxes are levied based on the value of your property. As property values increase, you would typically expect property taxes to go up as well. However, to prevent large tax increases when property values rise, HB 920 reduces the tax rate so that the total amount of money collected by the taxing entity (like school districts) remains relatively stable. In other words, the effective tax rate is lowered as property values rise.
What This Means for Homeowners: Even if your home’s value increases, the amount you pay in property taxes won't automatically increase in proportion. The tax rate adjusts to prevent sudden hikes in tax bills due to rising property values. The main goal of HB 920 is to protect property owners from steep increases in their tax bills when property values increase, especially in areas experiencing rapid real estate appreciation.
This law is significant because it ensures predictability and stability in property taxes, even in changing economic conditions. However, it also limits the revenue growth for schools and other local governments unless new levies are passed.
EMERGENCY LEVY RENEWAL SAMPLE BALLOT LANGUAGE
Shall a tax levy substituting for an existing levy be imposed by the Genoa Area Local School District for the purpose of providing for the necessary requirements of the school district in the initial sum of $1,230,395, and a levy of taxes be made outside of the ten-mill limitation estimated by the county auditor to require 4.300 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $151.00 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value for the initial year of the tax, for a continuing period of time, commencing in 2025, first due in calendar year 2026, with the sum of the tax to increase only if and as new land or real property improvements not previously taxed by the school district are added to its tax list?
| FOR THE TAX LEVY |
| AGAINST THE TAX LEVY |