Amherst Schools seeks funding through income tax

Amherst school officials hope to pass an income tax to fund its district, which would make it the third in the county to do so. Amherst Schools proposes a 1.5 percent earned income tax to its residents on the Nov. 4 ballot. The five-year income tax would fund current expenses, generating about $10 million each year for the district. Wellington and Oberlin Schools are the other districts in the county with income tax levies as part of their funding sources. The income tax would be against earned income and would not apply to pensions, Social Security or investment income. Amherst Superintendent Mike Molnar said the levy would help maintain the programs and services the district of about 3,500 students already has in place. "If it doesn't pass, there will be cuts," he said, and those cuts will be to staff. He estimated that without the new money, the district would have to eliminate about 20 to 35 positions across the district through retirements, attrition or reductions in force. "If this doesn't pass in November, we would start planning for that next school year," he said. "We have to." The district's need for new money comes, in part, from its stagnant funding from the state compared to its increased expenses over the past 15 years. In 2010, Amherst Schools received $15.2 million in state funding, Molnar said. In 2025, it received $14.1 million. As state aid decreases, local funding has to fill in the gap, he said. "This is the problem with the (school funding) system in Ohio – it forces districts to beg their local community," he said. It has been 13 years since Amherst Schools asked voters for new operating money, Molnar said, in part because the $4 million it received in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds during the pandemic delayed deficit spending for a few years. The district – like others in the state due to the way school funding is structured – has been spending against its cash balance for some time. It projects its deficit spending to grow to upward of $8 million in fiscal year 2027. It cannot use any of the $1.7 million generated each year by 2.5-mill permanent improvement levy to fund a new transportation center and upgrades to its athletic facilities passed last year toward operating costs. Molnar noted Amherst Schools is one of the lowest in public schools when ranked for total revenue per student. It receives about $12,000 per child – the state average is approximately $18,000. The bulk of the $12,000 it spends per child is from local revenue. Similarly, its expenses per student – about $12,500 per child – is one of the lowest in the state. Its total annual expenses are about $45 million. "You can't say we're wasting money or that our expenditures (are) too high," he said. When deciding whether to place a property tax levy or income tax issue on the November ballot, Molnar looked to efforts in Ohio to remove property taxes all together, including recent changes to school levy options by the Statehouse's override of the governor's budget vetoes. While the income tax may be less common, and in some ways a harder sell to voters, he expected it is a direction many other schools may take soon. Treasurer Amelia Gioffredo said if the issue passes, residents will need to notify their employers of the change to have it withheld from their pay. The Ohio Department of Taxation would collect the school district income tax on Amherst Schools' behalf and distribute it to the district in January, April, July and October. She said a new school district income tax takes about seven quarters for the district to receive its first full collection, so Amherst Schools would not receive its full collection until fiscal year 2028. "We only come to the community when it is absolutely necessary, and for Amherst, the data shows it's necessary," Molnar said. If the issue does not pass, Molnar expected the district could place it back on the ballot in the spring. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.