COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Central Ohio school districts have been speaking out against the state budget, or House Bill 96, for months, but a so-called claw-back provision from the Ohio House-passed version of the bill is causing concern. 

Public school districts have cash reserves that serve as their savings account or rainy-day fund. This money is carried over each year. But if the budget is approved as is, school treasurers said it could be detrimental to some districts. 

The claw-back provision would only allow 30% of a district’s cash reserve to be carried over. The rest would go back to the taxpayers, which proponents said is a form of property tax relief. 

Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said this is a short-term solution for property tax relief. 

“You could see districts that are otherwise in a healthy fiscal shape be forced into a really negative path that could lead ultimately to fiscal watch or fiscal emergency,” DiMauro said. 

Olentangy and Westerville are among the districts that would be impacted by this claw-back provision in House Bill 96. 

Olentangy Treasurer and CFO Ryan Jenkins said the money in the cash reserve right now is being saved for the future as the district continues to grow. 

“Over the next three to five years, we will grow as a district and we will absorb that carryover as we fund new staff and new schools,” Jenkins said. “So we believe we have a plan for every dollar in the reserve.” 

Jenkins said Olentangy could lose up to $100 million. The money would go back to the taxpayers, but the district would then have to go back to the voters almost every year. 

“We understand and want tax relief for our community members,” Jenkins said. “We value that. We also know as a district that we prioritize every dollar that we get from our community.” 

This could put Olentangy, Westerville and other districts in the fiscal emergency territory. This means the state would appoint a commission that controls all aspects of a district’s finances. The commission is in charge of saving money, which could mean programming or staff cuts and larger class sizes. 

Westerville Treasurer Nicole Marshall said the district would lose around $110 million. 

“For us, we’d be looking at fiscal watch,” Marshall said. “We would have to eliminate a lot of programs and services to students, likely down to state and federal minimum requirements.” 

Marshall said this could also result in Westerville putting levies on the ballot almost yearly. 

“There’s lots of needs that our school district has overall and for the state to just take everything away that we have, they would just be putting the district and the community in a really tough spot,” Marshall said. 

The state budget was passed in the Ohio House and is currently in the Senate. Both school treasurers said they are hopeful the claw-back provision will be changed and that public schools will be fully funded in the final budget.