County Auditor to redistribute $1.1M to townships, schools

School districts, townships and other entities in Washington County received good news during Thursday's Washington County Commission meeting.

During the meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution for the Washington County Auditor's Office to return $1.1 million in Real Estate Assessment Funds to local schools, municipalities, townships and the county.

Washington County Auditor Matthew Livengood said his office collects property taxes and then distributes those property taxes to the townships, which are the villages, townships, school districts and other taxing authorities in the county.

A part of the funds that would be distributed to the taxing authorities is put in the Auditor's Office Real Estate Assessment (REA) Fund, Livengood said.

The Ohio Revised Code allows REA money to be used for Auditor's Office operations that have to do with real estate, real estate assessment and anything else real estate related, he said.

According to Livengood, the REA Fund has done very well over the past three years.

"I was able to save the county some money by how I contracted and executed the 2022 reappraisal and that's what brings us to today. Because the REA Fund is as healthy as it is, as a steward of public funds having a very healthy REA fund allows me to then in turn go back and redistribute a total of $1.1 million," Livengood said.

The Auditor's Office will issue the money proportionally. Livengood looked at the property taxes collected in 2023. Whatever proportion of that money a taxing authority contributed, that is the percentage of the $1.1 million in REA funds they will get back, he said.

Livengood gave an example of this. The biggest contributor to the property taxes collected in 2023 was Marietta City Schools, at almost 22%. So they will be getting almost 22% of the $1.1 million, Livengood said.

Livengood looked at what the money he collected last year, what he will probably need to operate this year and then gave his office a little bit of a cushion when determining how much of the REA funds he could refund, he said.

The Auditor's Office has redistributed REA funds before. Under the former auditor, $1,130,000 was redistributed in 2017. Money was also redistributed in 2010, Livengood said.

Commissioner James Booth said he approached Livengood about releasing some of the REA funds.

"My initiative was to find funding for a school resource officer, especially in the school district of Frontier. Frontier is the furthest away from the center of the county. By the (Chief Deputy) Sheriff's terminology, it takes anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes to respond to a call in the Matamoras/Frontier area," Booth said.

Booth used to be a police officer and he has a niece who lives in Perry, Iowa, whose children go to the school that had the shooting recently. They happened to be running late that morning, he said.

Based on all of this, Booth sees a School Resource Officer as an imperative need at Frontier Local Schools, he said.

Livengood said that how the REA funds are spent by the school districts, townships, and others is their choice and is up to their discretion.

Booth would like Frontier Local Schools to decide to use the funds for a School Resource Officer, but it is up to the school board and superintendent to decide to use the money for that, he said.

Commissioners have pledged to help with funding for a School Resource Officer at Frontier if they decide to get a School Resource Officer. The commission will provide $50,000 the first year, $30,000 the second year, and $20,000 the third year to help pay for the position, Booth said.

Booth said he has talked to Sheriff Larry Mincks about the issue too and that the commission would buy another vehicle for the Sheriff's Office to help them have a car available.

He also said Mincks has pledged that if Frontier does get a School Resource Officer that his office will pay the salary for the officer during summer when school is not in session.

"The county is a willing partner to make sure that our children are protected. I just see it as one of the needs of our county," Booth said of the need for a school resource officer at Frontier.

Livengood notified all of the financial officers at all the entities receiving the REA funds by email on Tuesday that they would be getting funds and the amount of the funds, he said. The money will be issued in one check to each entity in early February, Livengood said.

"As a good steward it's my job," Livengood said about refunding the REA funds. "This is my responsibility. It's definitely the right thing to be doing".

Wolf Creek Local Schools Superintendent Douglas Baldwin said that when they receive the REA funds "they will go back in our general fund and be used for whatever."

A lot of schools said they would use their REA funds to pay for a School Resource Officer. Wolf Creek already has a School Resource Officer and they pay for the position out of their funds, he said.

Marietta City Schools CFO Frank Antill said the district is "going to explore adding another (School) Resource Officer for the district with the Real Estate Assessment funds."

Warren Local Schools CFO Melcie Wells said that the district is very appreciative of the money.

"There are no specific plans. It will just be used to meet the general needs of the district, since it's a reimbursement," Wells said of the REA funds.

Fort Frye Local Schools Superintendent Stephanie Starcher said that she and the treasurer knew the funds may be coming and have not discussed the money with the Board of Education Finance Committee yet. They meet every quarter.

"Likely what we'll recommend to that committee is that they use it to offset the cost of the School Resource Officer Position for a year," Starcher said.

The district had a grant that was funding the position and that grant expired, she said.

Frontier Treasurer Local Schools Treasurer Lee Howard said the district has not discussed the REA funds.

"We don't have a plan yet," she said. "It's possible that we'll talk about it at the board meeting in February."

Belpre City Schools did not respond to requests for comment about the REA funds by press time.

The recipients of the REA funds and the amounts they received are as follows:

≤ Washington County – $204,422.07

≤ Belpre CSD – $96,282.03

≤ Fort Frye LSD – $104,772.41

≤ Frontier LSD – $27,669.01

≤ Marietta CSD – $241,162.29

≤ Warren LSD – $151,265.15

≤ Wolf Creek LSD – $104,301.40

≤ Washington County Career Center – $42,951.68

≤ City of Belpre – $10,178.20

≤ City of Marietta – $9,977.56

≤ Village of Beverly – $1,026.92

≤ Village of Lowell – $532.32

≤ Village of Lower Salem – $22.18

≤ Village of Macksburg – $20.69

≤ Village of Matamoras – $491.71

≤ Lowell-Adams Joint Fire District – $608.76

≤ Adams Township – $1,674.85

≤ Aurelius Township – $593.98

≤ Barlow Township – $4,736.36

≤ Belpre Township – $9,951.99

≤ Decatur Township – $2,772.89

≤ Dunham Township – $6,317.00

≤ Fairfield Township – $1,401.82

≤ Fearing Township – $1,848.24

≤ Grandview Township – $1,654.48

≤ Independence Township – $314.40

≤ Lawrence Township – $563.74

≤ Liberty Township – $539.61

≤ Ludlow Township – $351.35

≤ Marietta Township – $8,382.69

≤ MuskingumTonwship – $14,316.64

≤ Newport Township – $3,741.79

≤ Palmer Township – $805.46

≤ Salem Township – $2,606.13

≤ Warren Township – $7,696.93

≤ Waterford Township – $20,258.74

≤ Watertown Township – $2,171.92

≤ Wesley Township – $2,499.80

≤ Morgan LSD – $17.06

≤ Caldwell EvSD – $8,333.22

≤ Mid-East Ohio JVSD – $734.52