Right now is a critical time for school funding in Ohio.

School districts across the state—including Milford Exempted Village Schools—are facing renewed challenges due to longstanding inequities in how Ohio funds its public schools.

One of the most pressing concerns is House Bill 96, a proposal that threatens to penalize districts that have managed their finances responsibly. Instead of rewarding careful planning and community trust, the bill would strip away locally approved funding from districts that maintain healthy cash reserves—regardless of the reason or necessity for those savings.

Milford, like many high-performing districts, is being asked to choose between fiscal responsibility and financial stability—a choice no school district should have to make.

What It Does:

• Requires school districts to reduce their cash reserves if they exceed 30% of their annual spending.

• Penalizes districts that save strategically to stretch levy dollars and prepare for rising costs.

• Could force schools like Milford to return to the ballot more often, asking taxpayers for new levies just to maintain existing services.

What That Means for Milford

House Bill 96 would punish districts that plan ahead.

Milford Exempted Village Schools works hard to save money so we can avoid asking our community for new tax levies too often. These savings help pay for teachers, classroom materials, technology, extracurriculars, and more—all without needing to go back to voters every few years.

But this bill says that if we save “too much,” we could lose some of that money—even if we’re saving it for good reasons like covering rising costs or protecting against emergencies.

If this bill becomes law, it could force us to ask families for more money sooner than we planned—just to keep doing what we’re already doing.

For Milford Exempted Village Schools, House Bill 96 would result in a potential loss of $10-19 million dollars. Funding that has already been responsibly saved and built into our long-term financial plan.

This would come on top of the potential loss of more than $1 million in state funding if the Ohio Fair School Funding Plan is eliminated—placing even greater pressure on our ability to serve students.

Since our last operating levy in 2013, Milford has taken pride in fiscal responsibility, strategic planning, and maximizing every taxpayer dollar. House Bill 96 would make that approach unsustainable.

We could be forced to return to voters more often—not to invest in the future, but simply to preserve what we already have. This unfairly shifts the burden to local residents who have long supported strong public schools.

In addition to increased levy pressure, we may also face deeper cuts to staffing, programs, and essential services, further straining our schools and students.

Due to House Bill 920, nearly 89% of Milford’s millage is outside the 20-mill floor, meaning we do not receive additional revenue when property values increase. That’s why we’re expected to save early in a levy cycle and spend those reserves down gradually as costs rise.

Milford Exempted Village Schools believes in responsible financial management, transparency, and honoring the trust our community has placed in us. House Bill 96 undermines those values by threatening to override the careful decisions made by our locally elected Board of Education and our voters.

We urge Ohio lawmakers to reconsider this proposal, protect local control, and support funding solutions that reward—not punish—districts that plan for the future. Our community should have the ability to make financial decisions based on its own needs—not be penalized by one-size-fits-all state mandates.