BOWLING GREEN
2024 Operating Levy
our kids, our community, our future
Images provided by BG Families for Schools
WHY DO WE NEED THIS NOW?
Our school district is asking voters for new funds to support day-to-day operations – and the reason is simple: Our last levy for new operating funds (passed nearly 14 years ago, in 2010!) is no longer meeting the needs of our students and teachers.
More than 80% of our district's operating budget goes toward teachers and support staff. It costs $105,716 per day to operate our district. That includes 229 teachers, 153 support staff, and more than 371,000 miles of bussing each year! Costs have increased steadily by 2.42% every year for the past decade, but funding has only increased by 1.75%.
This operating levy is critical. We don’t have to look far to see what happens when schools don’t have the operating funds they need. Perrysburg, Otsego, Anthony Wayne, Napoleon… Failed levies mean teacher layoffs, fewer course offerings and after-school activities, and bigger class sizes.
1. how has the district seen costs increase?
Although the district maintains a healthy cash reserve and regularly pursues cost-cutting measures, rising costs, including services, benefits, and salaries, have exceeded district revenue. During the past ten years, the district's revenues have increased at an average annual rate of 1.75%. However, costs of products and services necessary to conduct day-to-day school business have increased at an average annual rate of 2.42%. And, over the same period, state funding has actually decreased. BGCS received approximately $327,000 less in state funding in fiscal year 2024 than the district received ten years ago.
2. What is an operating levy?
There are three “buckets” of school funding: 1. Bonds used for new buildings; 2. Permanent Improvement Levies used to improve existing property; and 3. Operating Levies (like this one) that fund everything necessary for day-to-day operations, including pay for teachers, utilities, transportation, repairs, and classroom supplies. Ohio law requires these funds be kept separate and only used for the stated purpose.
3. what is the district doing to control costs?
The district regularly pursues cost-cutting measures. In the recent past, such measures have included participating in purchasing consortiums to reduce costs; updating bus routes to reduce mileage (which resulted in fuel and vehicle maintenance savings); streamlining administrative processes; and obtaining more than $1.9 million in grants during the 2024 fiscal year.
What happens if the levy fails?
Significant cuts across the district.
We know what happens when schools don’t have the operating funds they need -- failed levies mean teacher cuts, fewer courses and after-school activities, and bigger class sizes.
