The Worthington Libraries Board of Trustees on April 21 authorized the library to file a 2027 tax budget request of approximately $11.6 million with the Franklin County Budget Commission. It is a routine filing that keeps the library eligible for the property tax and state dollars that fund nearly all of its operations.
The request breaks into two pieces: about $2.9 million from Ohio's Public Library Fund and roughly $8.7 million from general property tax levies (Resolution 04-02-26). The property tax figure includes the homestead rollback reimbursement the state pays in place of taxes that homestead-eligible homeowners no longer owe.
How the number is built
Chief Financial Officer Jeremie Stevens walked trustees through the methodology behind the request looking specifically at 2025 actuals, 2026 authorized appropriations, and the 2027 request. It assumes the library will spend down every dollar in the current year's budget to zero before 2027 begins. The zeroed-out fund balances combined with flat revenue projections paint the most conservative picture of what the library might need next year.
On the revenue side, 2027 is projected to look a lot like 2026. The library assumes Public Library Fund distributions from the state will be similar, that property tax receipts will hold steady because no new levies have passed, and that no major new revenue sources will come online in the intervening year.
Expenses step up modestly in line with the library's long-range plan. Purchase services rise about 3% to account for inflation, and salaries rise 6% to cover raises and an anticipated health-insurance increase. Library materials and information, the line item that covers books, databases, and digital services like Hoopla, rises 3.6%. That figure is a cushion built in for database and e-content price increases that the library says it hopes not to actually need.
The filing routes first through the affiliated school districts, which place it on their agendas for approval. Once school district sign-off is received, the tax budget goes to the Franklin County Budget Commission. The commission sees only the 2027 request, not the historical actuals, and uses it to confirm that the library's property tax and Public Library Fund disbursements are justified.
Broader financial picture
Stevens delivered the March financial report earlier in the meeting and said property tax collections caught up in March after a county-wide distribution delay held February receipts well below projection. With that catch-up payment and another received in April, the library is now close to where it should be for the first half of the year.
Investments are continuing to outperform the short-term benchmarks. The library holds roughly $18 million in longer-dated Meeder investments that are producing better yields than STAR Ohio, the state investment pool where the rest of the library's cash sits at Huntington.
Through two months of the fiscal year, expenses are at about 5.5% of the total operating budget and property tax receipts at roughly 26%. Both figures are well inside the library's targets at the 16.67% two-month mark.
Trustees passed the resolution by roll call. Absent from the vote was Elizabeth Grieser.