Attack on Perrysburg School Levy presents False Information
In late September, the Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition issued a press release and launched a web site advocating against Perrysburg School District’s operational levy on the ballot November 5, 2019. On their web site and Facebook page, a chart is displayed titled: “No New School Tax – School Levy Raises Property Taxes 34%.” This information is NOT accurate. The Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition apparently used school district tax information from Bloom Township, Wood County, Ohio in the Elmwood School District to calculate the percentage of increase to taxpayers in Perrysburg School District, which created an inflated and inaccurate number.
“School finance is complex—we handle questions regularly from taxpayers trying to calculate these numbers correctly,” shared Superintendent Thomas L. Hosler. “It makes no difference whether the facts were intentionally misrepresented or there is a misunderstanding as to how property taxes are calculated. We are a public entity; all anyone needs to do is pick up the phone or send a message and we would help step them through this calculation.”
By using the Elmwood School District tax data instead of Perrysburg Schools tax information, it inflated the percentages. The correct information is shown in the chart below. This information can be calculated using the Wood County, Ohio, Auditor Tax Estimator, which can be found on the auditor’s web site: http://auditor.co.wood.oh.us/taxestimator/.
Tax District – Q61 (Perrysburg Schools)
Additional Millage at the end of Five Years – 14.2
Property Market Value – $200,000
Assessed Value of Property – $70,000 (35% of Property Market Value, which is what is actually taxed)
Current Annual Tax, which includes city, county and library taxes – $4,083
Year 5 - 14.2 Mills Impact – $994
Year 5 Total School Tax Amount – $5,077
Year 1 vs. Year 5 % – 24.34%
Representatives from Citizens for Perrysburg Schools, which is managing the advocacy campaign for this school levy, are looking into reporting this as a campaign violation for making false statements in campaign materials.
“Our ultimate goal is to ensure all school district residents are given accurate information so they may make their own informed decision,” stated Mr. Hosler.
Posted: Wednesday, October 9, 2019