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MANSFIELD — The Mansfield City School board is sharing some good tidings of its own this holiday season.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday night to send an optional financial update to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
The board approved a new five-year forecast, reflecting several changes since the district’s last forecast submission.
Those changes include:
- Changes in district income: There will be a decrease in property taxes received due to a property tax relief measure approved by Richland County commissioners.
- Changes in district income: The district has received increased interest on its investments during the first four years of the forecast.
- Changes in personnel services costs: Salaries have changed following negotiations with the district’s three unions.
- Changes in employee health insurance costs and benefits: The district is expecting to decrease employee insurance costs due to a recent change of plans and companies. The district has also seen lower-than-expected unemployment benefit costs after recent staff reductions.
The updated forecast projects Mansfield City Schools will operate with a surplus through the 2027-2028 school year.
“The district is in a stronger financial position now than it was when the original financial forecast was submitted in October,” Treasurer Tammy Hamilla said.
Hamilla said the district’s fall forecast projected Mansfield City Schools would run out of operating funds by the end of the 2027-2028 school year — primarily due to health insurance costs.
The district would have had to submit a more thorough deficit reduction plan based on those numbers.
“To address these developments, the district is submitting a revised forecast that outlines its plan for managing the projected FY28 deficit and ensures the state has the most accurate and current financial information,” she said.
The updated forecast predicts Mansfield City Schools will maintain a positive cash balance through the 2028-2029 school year. However, the district could be on solid financial footing for even longer if voters vote to replace an emergency levy that expires in 2028.
Hamilla said districts can no longer ask voters to renew emergency levies due to changes in state law. The levy currently generates $7.9 million annually.
“The district will need to place a new levy on the ballot that year,” Hamilla said. “This will replace the revenue of the expiring Emergency Levy and will not be an additional cost to taxpayers.”
Crunching the numbers
In her updated forecast, Hamilla projected a decrease of $754,883 in revenue over the next two school years (2025-26 and 2026-27).
But the district expenditures dropped by much more, with a reduction over more than $11.25 million.
Wage projections are up more than $1.3 million for this school year and $2.7 million next school year.
How much do wages and benefits cost Mansfield City Schools?
According to the most recent financial projections, Mansfield City Schools will pay out just under $25.6 million in wages and $14.1 million in benefits during the 2025-2026 school year.
The district is expected to pay out $27.3 million in wages and more than $12.6 million in benefits during the 2026-2027 school year.
But fringe benefits are expected to be much lower (more than $15.6 million over this and next school year) thanks to the district’s new, Teamsters-affiliated insurance plan.
Nevertheless, Hamilla said her office is continue to closely monitor district spending and student-teacher ratios.
“We’re not resting on our laurels here. We’re still looking at stuff like third-party contracts, overtime, sub costs,” she told the board. “We’re making positive changes in our forecast, but we’re not just stopping there.
“We want people to know that we’re still looking at all kinds of things. We’re still working on, ways to say the district money.”