Kings Local School District
Operating Levy 2022
The Kings Local School District appreciates your support as we educate and prepare our students to be successful in their future endeavors.
We want to ensure that you are informed of the district's current financial situation. Receiving the information now will allow you time to ask questions for you to determine the direction of the school district.
After careful analysis over the last few months, the Kings Board of Education voted to place a 6.4 mill Operating Levy on the November 8, 2022 ballot. An Operating Levy will fund the day-to-day operations of the District which includes personnel costs and services for our students. Currently, the district has a declining cash balance and is projected to be at a deficit in 2024. We are under fiscal oversight by the Ohio Department of Education due to our declining fund balance; therefore, the need to place the levy on the ballot.
The Kings District has not asked the community for operating funds since 2016. Efficient spending has helped extend the last levy’s length by an additional 3 years including cost reductions of $1.6 million without reducing services for our students. We spend less per pupil than over half of the districts in the state while being state funded in the bottom 13% of the state. However, since the passage of the last operating levy, Kings enrollment has increased by 597 students resulting in increased expenses.
In June 2021, the Kings Board of Education took the initial steps to place a 6.9 mill levy on the ballot for November 2021. The Board did not take the final step due to uncertainty with the pandemic and receiving additional funding from the state. Instead, the Board elected to delay the levy for a year and ultimately ask for less millage in 2022.
Here are some facts regarding the upcoming 6.4 mill operating levy:
-
Requesting fewer mills than proposed last year and in line with past levies
-
Projected to last 3+ years conservatively
-
It will cost community members $224 annually or $18.67 monthly for every $100,000 of true home value
-
It will generate approximately $7,500,000 annually beginning in 2023
Without new revenue, Kings will have to enact immediate cost savings initiatives that will affect services for students.
The passage of the levy will:
-
Maintain the current class size ratios
-
Prevents reductions to personalized academic offerings including AP and electives at KHS/KJH and specials and enrichment courses at the elementary level
-
Increase safety and mental health personnel and programs
-
Continue current academic, athletic, and artistic extracurricular opportunities for students
-
Maintain momentum in growing our experiential learning opportunities for students
-
Continued emphasis on academic options for students preparing them for their future
To find the value used by the county to calculate your taxes, you can use the property tax search tool on the Warren County Auditor's Page. Once you find your property’s true value, use the levy estimator to calculate what the impact of the levy could be on your taxes.
To learn more about the 2022 Kings Operating Levy, visit the Levy Webpage on the Kings website.
If you have any questions regarding our current financial situation or the upcoming levy, please contact Kings Treasurer, Mike Morrow at mmorrow@kingslocal.net.
Sincerely,
Greg Sears, Superintendent
Mike Morrow, Treasurer
Stacie Belfrom, Board President
Deb Cowan, Board Vice-President
Janelle Groff, Board Member
Peggy Phillips, Board Member
John Skerl, Board Member
