mentorpublicschools 2024 0815 - Flipbook - Page 5
property, but you only pay taxes on your
assessed value (which is 35% of appraised
value). Your first tax bill based on your
new property valuation will come in
January 2025.
You may hear that other Lake County school districts could see a bigger
increase in tax revenue than what I’m
describing for Mentor and that would
be if the district reaches the state minimum millage floor, known as the
20 mill floor, which is based on each
district’s inside and outside fixed rate
millage. Again, Mentor Schools is not
at the “floor”, so our outside fixed rate
levies will be adjusted downward to
offset inflationary valuation growth
— keeping our tax collections relatively flat, as I described above. It’s also
worth noting that Mentor Schools has
only passed new money one time (in
2016) since 2004.
If you think about how other local entities are funded through different types
of taxes, like income or sales tax, when
those taxes experience growth, the entities they fund see that same growth, too.
Funding for Mentor Schools is unique
in that there is not a lot of space for
growth without asking the community
for new monies. Our Board of Education, Superintendent and I are committed to transparent, honest and accurate
fiscal management of the community’s
money being used to provide educational opportunities for the children we
serve each day. I would encourage you to
take a look at our website to learn more
about the finances of Mentor Schools.
Thank you for your continued support,
and please feel free to reach out to me
with any questions.
Scan to learn more:
Defining Millage Terms
Inside millage is levied under the 10 mill limitation in
the constitution. Such millages are enacted without popular vote and
are not subject to tax reduction factors, like HB920.
Inside Millage:
Outside millage are additional funds levied that can
only be added with the voted approval of taxpayers.
Outside Millage:
20 Mill Floor: A school district with at least 20 mills of current expense
tax levies may not have its effective tax rate reduced below 20 mills,
per Ohio law. Once the effective tax rate reaches 20 mills no further
reductions or effective rates are made, allowing such districts to receive
the full impact of increases in taxable values on those mills.
Auditor Awards
Mentor Schools earned recognition again this year from Ohio Auditor Keith Faber’s office for two different areas of business — and both are
acknowledgement of our high-level
of transparency at the very top levels awarded. First, we received the
Auditor’s Award with Distinction, in
which we were told our “exemplary reporting serves as the standard
for clean, accountable government,
representing the highest level of service to Ohioans.” Our number one
goal in Mentor Schools is to provide
a high-quality education in a safe
learning environment, and to do
so, in a fiscally responsible manner
for our community. Our clean audit
report and this award are evidence
of our continued work toward maximizing district resources.
The second award surrounds public records requests and sunshine
laws, where we earned a four-star
StaRS rating, which is the “highest
achievement in open and transparent government.” To receive this
honor, the district must go above
and beyond what is required by law
by implementing additional best
practices. It is an honor to be recognized for our important work of
being good stewards of our tax-payer dollars with the highest level of
transparency from the Ohio Auditor’s Office.
2024
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Mentor Public Schools
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