Vermilion — Vermilion Local School District Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Justin Klingshirn says a fast-moving set of state proposals and a new county-level tax change could significantly reduce school revenue over the next one to two years, with potential ripple effects on programs, staffing, and facility plans. Klingshirn briefed the Erie County Commissioners last week and later outlined the district’s concerns in a follow-up conversation.
The district’s warning centers on two developing issues: new county-authorized property-tax credits created in the state budget (House Bill 96) and several pending bills in Columbus that would alter how schools are funded and how local levies operate. While each change appears separate, together they could create the steepest revenue decline the district has faced in decades.
Under House Bill 96, counties can now duplicate the state’s Homestead and Owner-Occupied tax credits. The state reimburses its portion, but counties would not be reimbursed for theirs, meaning any county-level credit directly reduces local property-tax collections. Klingshirn said if Erie County adopted the additional credit, Vermilion Local Schools alone could lose about $490,000 per year in property-tax revenue.
“That’s a tax loss for every municipality,” he said. “For Vermilion Local Schools, that would mean roughly a half-million-dollar drop annually.”
Klingshirn emphasized that several other bills being discussed at the Statehouse could compound that impact. Some proposals would eliminate continuing or emergency levies, modify the rules that determine how much districts can collect, and raise the threshold for voter approval on new bond issues. “The likelihood that all of those go through is small, but I do think some of them will, and I don’t know which ones,” he said. “Our message to the commissioners was simply to pause. Let’s see what happens at the state level first before doubling local credits.”
He told commissioners the group of Erie County treasurers and superintendents supported property-tax relief in principle but asked that any local action wait until the state’s broader funding picture is clear. “If after the state decides what it’s doing the commissioners feel more relief is needed, they could exercise that option next year,” he said.
One immediate concern involves the end of emergency levies. The Senate recently overrode a gubernatorial veto that removes the ability to renew those levies, forcing districts such as Vermilion to seek new money when existing measures expire. Vermilion’s emergency levy, first passed in 2008, will now have to be placed on the ballot as new money in 2026. Because post-2013 levies no longer include state reimbursements for rollback and homestead credits, taxpayers will shoulder more of the cost to maintain the same level of school funding.
Klingshirn said that if all pending bills were enacted simultaneously, Vermilion’s operating revenue could fall to roughly four to four and a half million dollars, a level he described as unsustainable. “It would decimate all schools,” he said.
He believes the legislative movement reflects both genuine concern over rising property taxes and an ideological push toward privatization. Over the past two decades, the share of school funding paid by homeowners has climbed from about 47 percent in 2002 to 67 percent today, after the elimination of the tangible personal-property tax shifted much of the burden away from businesses.
Asked what residents can do, Klingshirn encouraged community members to stay informed and engaged. “It would be all of the above,” he said. “Contact legislators, talk with county commissioners, and be prepared for future levy discussions. The goal is to protect local school funding before decisions are made that can’t be reversed.”
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