Data courtesy of Yellow Springs Schools
Revenue loss projected in YS Schools budget forecast
- Published: September 4, 2026
Yellow Springs Schools expects to lose about $2.4 million in local revenue over the next five years due to several recently enacted property tax laws, according to an updated five-year financial forecast presented to the school board Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Treasurer Jacob McGrath told board members the district’s reserve cash balance is projected to remain positive through fiscal year 2031; as the News reported earlier this year, operating expenditures began outpacing revenues in fiscal year 2025, with the district drawing from its reserve cash balance for operations.
When voters approved funding for updated facilities in 2023, the district’s goal at the time was to avoid a new operating levy through about 2033, and staffing and contract decisions since then have been made with that goal in mind. Because of the decrease in expected funds wrought by new legislation, however, McGrath said the district will need to look at asking the public for increased operating funds a few years sooner.
“We want to be looking at addressing that, probably in 2029, so that we can get funding by 2030,” McGrath said.
According to McGrath’s presentation during the meeting, general property tax revenue is projected to fall by about $400,000 from fiscal year 2026 to 2027. The district expects to receive about $150,000 from the state to offset part of the legislative impact, but McGrath said the payment does not make up the loss.
“These are not changes that we made, but it is $2.4 million in revenue that we are losing over the life of our five-year forecast from property tax changes,” McGrath said.
The state legislation impacting local school district revenue, and district revenue across the state, was passed last year and enacted early this year, ostensibly to reduce the growing property tax obligation for Ohio property owners. Taken together, House Bills 186 and 129 retroactively cap property tax revenue, effectively take back some revenue expected after a 2023 property reappraisal and limit previously expected property tax growth.
At the same time, McGrath said, the state’s school funding formula continues to treat the district as though it can collect the same taxes on higher property values, even as the new laws reduce what the district can actually collect. But he noted that the district has tried to build conservative assumptions into its forecast, including lower expected property value growth.
“So that is one good thing on our forecast — we don’t expect it to get worse than this,” he said.
About half of the district’s general fund expenditures go toward wages, with another 19% going toward benefits. McGrath told the board that the relative size of the projected revenue loss makes it difficult to solve through routine cost-cutting, particularly as staffing is governed by negotiated agreements.
“We do not have a $2 million expense to cut,” he said.
Board member Rebecca Potter asked administrators to continue looking at areas where costs might flatten once facilities construction is complete, noting that purchased services totaled about $1.7 million in fiscal year 2025 and are projected to be about $500,000 higher by 2030. McGrath said some of the recent increase has come from one-time or construction-related expenses, and utilities were about $100,000 higher last year than the year before.
Potter said she understood that costs will continue to rise and that the district will have a better sense of ongoing expenses once the new buildings are fully operational.
“I think when we do start talking in a couple of years about going back to the voters, really showing that we’ve looked at every angle is important,” Potter said.
Board member Kristi Myers agreed, saying those details will be important when explaining district expenses to the public.
“We want to show our work and where we’re putting our money and that it reflects our values and … what’s important to us as a community,” she said.
To view documents from McGrath’s budget forecast, go to http://www.ysschools.org/board-of-education and scroll down to “BoardDocs: Meetings, Agendas and Policies.” A recording of the full meeting is available online at youtube.com/@yellowspringsschoolsboe.
Temporary back-to-school plan
The board also heard more details on a temporary plan for opening school while construction continues.
As the News reported last week, Superintendent Megan Winston said grades K–8 will begin the year at Mills Lawn, while grades 9–12 will attend at Yellow Springs Middle and High School and in four classrooms at the Greene County Educational Service Center across the parking lot. The first day of school remains Monday, Aug. 31.
The arrangement is scheduled through Oct. 15, though Winston said fifth- through eighth-grade classes could move to the middle/high school campus sooner if construction progress allows and administrators determine the move would not be too disruptive.
Winston said that when the district learned from Conger Construction that not all spaces at the East Enon Road campus would be ready for students and staff by Aug. 31, administrators considered a number of solutions to maintain state-required instruction hours, including delaying the start of school and extending the length of school days, cutting scheduled breaks and professional development days and splitting students into half-day schedules. Ultimately, the district chose the temporary arrangement in order to get students back into classrooms on the announced start date while preserving the district’s academic calendar as much as possible.
Students will retain the start times already established for their grade levels. Winston said families with both elementary and middle school students will receive guidance about an early supervised space for younger siblings at Mills Lawn, and principals will send additional instructions about transportation, drop-off and pickup, entrances and other logistics. Winston urged families to follow those instructions closely, particularly as the additional student load at Mills Lawn will affect traffic around the building.
Board President Amy Bailey reiterated that administrators only learned from Conger that a change of plan would be necessary on Friday, Aug. 8, just three days before the temporary plan was announced publicly.
“This was a mad scramble to figure out what the best solution was,” Bailey said, adding that the district was “trying to make the best of a very difficult situation.”
A question-and-answer session for fifth- through eighth-grade families was set for Thursday, Aug. 20, 5–6 p.m., at Mills Lawn. Open house for Mills Lawn students is Thursday, Aug. 27, 5–6:30 p.m.; open house for YS Middle and High School is also set for Thursday, Aug. 27, 6–7:30 p.m.
In other school board business—
The district is currently seeking both a fulltime bus driver and substitute bus drivers for the year following a recent resignation. The district will pay for required training for bus driver hires. The district is also currently seeking a night-shift custodian. For more information, call 937-767-7381.
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