Treasurer's Office

I am pleased you have chosen to visit our website and to have an opportunity to share with you financial information for the Alexander Local School District. As part of an ongoing commitment to provide pertinent financial information, our goal is to keep you abreast of the financial reports and data that affect you the parents of our students and the taxpayers of our community.

This is also an effort to keep you informed of the information that is presented and approved by the Board of Education at its regularly scheduled meetings. I also hope this information will enable you to better understand the financial affairs of the Alexander Local School District.

If you have questions regarding the information contained on this website, or any other questions or suggestions that pertain to the Treasurer's Office, please feel free to contact me or my staff.

Aaron Schirm
Treasurer, Alexander Local Board of Education
aschirm@alexanderschools.org

Treasurer's Office Staff

Aaron Schirm - Treasurer / CFO

Aaron has been Treasurer of the Alexander Local School District since October 2006. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Treasurer at Teays Valley Local School District and before that worked as a Fiscal Specialist for the Ohio Department of Youth Services. Aaron is a member of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO), the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA), and the Ohio Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). As Treasurer, he is hired by and reports directly to the Board of Education. He is responsible for all financial activities of the District including Payroll, Budgeting, Reporting, Forecasting, State and Federal Grants, and Investments.  In Fiscal Year 2007 the District's total budget exceeded $18 million.

Jonetta Niggemeyer - Accounts Payable / Receivable

Jonetta has been with the Treasurer’s Office since 2003 in a variety of duties. She is currently in charge of accounts payable and receivable. She posts all purchase transactions to District records, processes all vouchers and checks for the District, handles correspondence with vendors, records/posts all revenue received by the District from all sources (cash, checks, and electronic fund transfers). The Alexander Local School District processed more than 2,300 checks and 1,900 purchase orders during Fiscal Year 2007.  Jonetta can be reached at jniggemeyer@alexanderschools.org.

Fran Tullius - Payroll

Fran started with the Treasurer's Office in January 2008.  He is currently responsible for the payroll operations. Prior to coming to Alexander Local School District, he was employed by O’Bleness Memorial Hospital as a Management Information Systems Technician Assistant.  Before that, Fran worked 27 years for Southern Ohio Coal Company where he coordinated the payroll department for more than 400 employees and supervised three payroll clerks.  The Alexander Local School District processed more than 7,600 payroll checks during Fiscal Year 2007.  Fran can be reached at ftullius@alexanderschools.org.

Kelly McCarty - EMIS / Insurance

Kelly has been with the Treasurer’s Office since 2004 in a variety of duties. She ran the payroll and insurance operation alone until 2008. Since then she works mainly on EMIS and the District's insurance program while assisting and backing up the payroll operation. The District offers medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance and provides access to Life Insurance, Disability Insurance, and an IRS Section 125 Plan.  As the EMIS coordinator, Kelly is responsible for maintaining all data information for over 1,700 students.  Kelly can be reached at kmccarty@alexanderschools.org.

School Finance 101

HOW ARE SCHOOLS FUNDED IN OHIO ?

LOCAL SUPPORT

Property tax is the predominant method communities use to raise additional revenues in Ohio. Property tax comes in two forms:

• Real Property Tax - This is a tax levied on land and buildings located within the school district. Private individuals, businesses, and public utilities that own land and buildings pay this tax.
• Tangible Personal Property - This is a tax levied on furniture, fixtures, machinery, equipment and inventory owned by business. This is currently being phased out and will no longer be collected.

Key factors used in calculating property tax bills are the assessed valuation of property and the millage rate. The county auditor of each county in the state has the responsibility of appraising all taxable real property once every six years to determine the values. Every third year after each appraisal another form of reappraisal, called a triennial update, is conducted. Property tax bills are calculated on the assessed value of property, which equals 35 percent of the auditor's appraised value. EXAMPLE: A home with an appraised value of $100,000 will be taxed on a value of $35,000.

MILLS

Local Property tax rates are always computed in mills. One mill costs the property owner $1.00 for every $1,000 of assessed valuation each year. In our example, the $100,000 home will produce $35 in tax revenue for each mill.

In Ohio , millage is referred to as "inside" millage and "outside" millage. Inside millage is the millage provided by the Constitution of the State of Ohio and is levied without the vote of the people as established very early in the State's history. The inside millage rate is limited to ten mills in each political subdivision. Public schools, cities, counties and other local governments are allocated a portion of the ten inside mills. The Alexander Local School District 's portion is 3.9 mills. Outside millage is the millage voted upon by the public.  The minimum amount allowed by law is 20 mills.  This is referred to as the "20 mill floor."  Alexander is currently operating at 20 mills.  Alexander has not had a new operating levy since 1991.

There are two major forms of tax credits property owners receive on their tax bill.

• Rollback - The first is a 12.5% millage rollback.  With this credit, a homeowner receives a credit of 12.5% on the total gross property tax amount due. In our example, the property owner would receive a credit of $4.38 [$35 x .125].
• Homestead - The second is the homestead exemption. This credit is only available to qualified elderly and disabled homeowners meeting minimum income level requirements. These credits can range from $70 to $650 per year and require completion of an application process.

The annual net tax bill for 1 mill on a $100,000 home would be $30.62 [$35.00-$4.38] in our example. An additional amount could be deducted if the taxpayer qualified for the homestead exemption. The State of Ohio reimburses rollback and homestead credits so that the taxing authority end up collecting the full amount of the levy.

HB 920- THE CONTROLLING FACTOR
Another key tax credit is the tax reduction factor. Also known as House Bill 920, this credit, which went into effect in 1976, effectively freezes all voted real property millage at the dollar amount collected the first year the millage went into effect. As property values rise through reappraisals, the outside millage rate is commonly referred to as "effective" millage is reduced. The inside mills are not affected by the House Bill 920 credit, so a very small amount of additional revenue is gained as property values increase.

STATE SUPPORT
The largest portion of Alexander's funding comes from the State Foundation - The State of Ohio provides funding to school districts by way of a foundation formula. The foundation formula method of funding Basic Aid takes into account the ability of school districts to raise taxes locally as well as a state determined minimum amount necessary per student to provide an adequate education. The formula is designed to provide a higher level of assistance to school districts with low property wealth relative to districts with higher property wealth. It takes into account several other factors including enrollment.

Links

Liberty Mutual Insurance- Group Savings Plan