Midview Schools projects negative cash balance in 2025

Midview Schools is projecting a negative cash balance in 2025. In the district's five-year forecast, Midview is projected to be in the negative $3.9 million by 2025, but Treasurer Rob Showalter noted that there's a lot of unknowns ahead. It is expected that expenses will outpace income by fiscal year 2021. By 2025, there is $12.3 million of deficit spending projected. COVID-19 has affected the economy and made it hard to project what will happen in the future. Budget shortfalls at the state level could affect the amount of funding school districts receive. Showalter noted that Midview cannot predict the full effect that the spread of COVID-19 will have on the district's budget. Grant assistance, including from the CARES Act and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Grant, have helped offset most of Midview's reopening costs. In May, Gov. Mike DeWine ordered a reduction in state funding. Midview has lost about $554,000 in fiscal year 2020, and that is anticipated to be the same amount for fiscal year 2021. The district isn't budgeting for additional cuts. There are two future state budgets coming up — in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 and in fiscal year 2024 to 2025 — and the results of those will affect how much money Midview will get from the state. About 30 percent of Midview's funding comes from the state. The majority of Midview's money comes from property tax collections. Showalter noted that the housing market in the district is stable and growing. He projected an increase in appraised values every three years. In May, the district was expecting a 10 percent decrease in property tax revenue, but that has now changed to a 3 percent decrease, which is mostly due to the NEXUS pipeline values. The NEXUS pipeline was slated to give the district a revenue bump, but NEXUS has appealed the tax valuations multiple times. The state has valued Midview's part of the pipeline at $33.9 million, and NEXUS has until Dec. 5 to appeal that value. Midview has two emergency levies that will come up for renewal in 2023. If those renewals don't pass and expire, the budget would take a $2.6 million hit. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.