Budget Commission Discusses the Impact of HB 186 on Local School Districts
Budget Commission Meeting – July 20, 2026
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, July 20, 2026 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio. The meeting was in person with a virtual attendance option via MS Teams, and the agenda was provided in advance. To attend Budget Commission meetings virtually via MS Teams, email an invitation request to Pam McMahan at PMcMahan@geauga.oh.gov.
Meeting Attendance: Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Treasurer Chris Hitchcock and ADP (Automatic Data Processing) Chief Deputy Administrator Frank Antenucci (substituting for Auditor Chuck Walder).
Staff Attendance: Deputy Auditors Tina Kloski and Jennifer Hess, Auditor’s Office Chief Operations Officer Pam McMahan, Auditor’s Office Senior Government Advisor Natalie Ray, and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Rine (virtual).
County Staff: Geauga County Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton (virtual).
Members of the Public: Geauga Public Health Finance Director Katie Taylor, Court of Common Pleas Magistrate Randy Taylor, and this LWV Geauga Observer all attended virtually.
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am.
Minutes: Minutes for the Budget Commission meetings on June 29, 2026 and July 6, 2026 were both approved. Budget Commission Minutes can be found here when posted.
The following Amendments were approved:
Reviewer Note: An explanation of the different types of funds in revenue certifications can be found
here.
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Amendment #3. Final Amendment for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. Observer Note: Schools operate on a July-June fiscal year, whereas most County entities operate on the January-December calendar year. $52,878,194.03 in the general fund, $3,607,984.95 in special revenue funds, $5,353,445.51 in debt service funds, $2,842,815.72 in capital project funds, $2,571,487.63 in enterprise funds, $8,954,208.16 in internal service funds, and $105,347.96 in fiduciary funds for a total of $76,313,483.96.
Kenston’s Amendment #3 certified the updated fund totals for the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Mr. Hitchcock mentioned that it would be helpful for schools to provide their total current enrollment when amendments are submitted, though it was not clear whether or not this would be a requirement going forward.
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Amendment #1. First Amendment for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. $53,969,727.99 in the general fund, $3,310,660.16 in special revenue funds, $5,542,809.22 in debt service funds, $3,237,998.60 in capital project funds, $2,668,378.56 in enterprise funds, $9,930,331.74 in internal service funds, and $94,003.62 in fiduciary funds for a total of $78,753,909.89.
Kenston’s Amendment #1 certified increases in the general fund, debt service funds,
capital project funds, enterprise funds, and internal service funds. It also certified decreases in special revenue funds and fiduciary funds.
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Amendment #3. Final Amendment for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. $21,851,635.75 in the general fund, $1,812,264.14 in special revenue funds, $1,356,156.52 in debt service funds, $2,465,290.53 in capital project funds, $640,094.44 in enterprise funds, $449.99 in internal service funds, and $58,494.46 in fiduciary funds for a total of $28,184,385.83.
Cardinal’s Amendment #3 certified the updated fund totals for the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
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Amendment #1. First Amendment for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. $24,868,835.04 in the general fund, $1,803,828.37 in special revenue funds, $686,606.52 in debt service funds, $1,439,319.99 in capital project funds, $556,062.30 in enterprise funds, $91,788.04 in internal service funds, and $52,643.46 in fiduciary funds for a total of $29,499,083.72.
Cardinal’s Amendment #1 certified decreases in special revenue funds, debt service funds, capital project funds, enterprise funds, and fiduciary funds. It also certified increases in the general fund and internal service funds.
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Berkshire Local School District - Amendment #1. First Amendment for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. $25,547,308.12 in the general fund, $3,490,718.83 in special revenue funds, $1,667,321.68 in debt service funds, $749,731.08 in capital project funds, $864,114.99 in enterprise funds, $488,778.75 in internal service funds, and $208,631.35 in fiduciary funds for a total of $33,016,604.80.
Berkshire’s Amendment certified decreases in the general fund, special revenue funds, capital project funds,enterprise funds, internal service funds, and fiduciary funds. It also certified an increase in debt service funds.
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Geauga County Public Library - Amendment #2. $13,627,727.42 in the general fund, $149,688.16 in special revenue funds, $1,637,932.42 in debt service funds, and $17,498,785.95 in capital project funds for a total of $32,914,133.95.
Geauga County Public Library’s amendment certified a capital projects fund increase of $3,943,427.50 in the Chardon Capital Fund Reserve. Mr. Hitchcock noted that he has encouraged the library to raise money from the private sector to help pay for the new facility to be built in Chardon.
Regular Business:
A Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste (GTSW) Cash Transfer in the amount of $7,145 from GTSW’s cost allocation to the Geauga County Commissioners’ cost allocation for the third quarter cost allocation was accepted by the Budget Commission. Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Flaiz briefly discussed the high utilization of recycling centers in Geauga County compared to Trumbull and lamented the high cost of operating recycling centers.
Other Business
Ms. Kloski stated that 2027 budget submissions have been received from all entities except Claridon Township, Middlefield Township, Thompson Township, and Chester Park. Observer Note: Budget submissions are due by July 20, which was the date of this meeting. Presumably some or all of the entities who had not submitted yet got their budgets in later that day. She said that their goal was to have all submissions reviewed and the packets of information to the Budget Commissioners by the end of the week.
Ms. Kloski shared a table she prepared outlining the impact of House Bill 186 on the property tax revenue received by local school districts. The amounts of lost tax revenue for the impacted school districts are listed below. Unaffected districts are not listed. Observer Note: The State of Ohio is planning to make the school districts affected by this lost tax revenue whole. Additional information about this presented later in this section.
Auburn JVSD
Real Property $ 445,368.84
Manufactured Homes $1,744.30
Total $447,113.14
Berkshire LSD
Real Property $ 796,823.04
Manufactured Homes $ 9,686.34
Total $806,509.38
West Geauga
Real Property $2,614,466.30
Manufactured Homes $ 3,464.56
Total $2,617,930.86
Mr. Hitchcock observed that “most of our communities have zero impact.” However, it was noted that all Geauga school districts except West Geauga are a part of Auburn Joint Vocational School District, which is impacted. Mr. Flaiz stated that “Berkshire, well, they're not losing this money. They're just not gaining it.” It was noted that ultimately the affected districts are supposed to get back these lost funds due to the cancellation of the expanded sales tax holiday in August. Observer Note: The expanded sales tax holiday is cancelled, but there is still a sales tax holiday for the weekend of August 7-9. More information is available here. Mr. Flaiz stated that “I can understand why the schools are suspicious (about getting the lost revenue back), because the state loves cutting their funding. So, you know, (it’s) really easy to dial back tax credits because that's all they ever do.” All expressed agreement with the sentiment that this skepticism is warranted. Mr. Flaiz said that enacting the property tax changes in HB 186 delayed second half property tax bills, though Mr. Hitchcock clarified that the bills are out now in Geauga and are due on August 4. It was noted that under the HB 186 the state should be reimbursing affected districts by the end of August.
General Discussion
There was no general discussion.
Public Comment:
This Observer asked if a joint Budget Commission-County Commissioners meeting before the Budget Hearings in August was going to occur. Observer Note: County Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton mentioned the possibility of such a meeting at the June 29, 2026 Budget Commission meeting. Mr. Antenucci said he did not think so, but they are hoping that the County’s actual Budget Hearing on August 17 would be a joint meeting. Mr. Flaiz and Mr. Hitchcock agreed. This Observer also requested a copy of all materials from this meeting, which were received via email on July 21, 2026.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:24 am.
Next Meeting: The next Budget Commission Meeting will be the Annual Reorganizational Meeting, including discussion of the estimated public library & local government allocations and regular business, on Monday, August 3, 2026 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon. Virtual attendance for Budget Commission meetings is available via Microsoft Teams by emailing an invitation request to Ms. McMahan at PMcMahan@geauga.oh.gov.
Observer: Sarah McGlone
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Submitted: July 22, 2026
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