Here is some information on House Bill 920 from the Cardinal Local School District website. (this was from 2005)

House Bill 920

. . . and its effect of local school districts

In 1976, when inflation was extremely high, the legislature passed House Bill 920. This law freezes school revenues by reducing the amount generated by the voted millage by the same amount that a property increases over the years, creating an effective millage.

HB920 severely limits growth in local tax levies. Schools do not receive additional taxes when a property's value increases. Instead tax rates are "rolled-back" such that the total tax collected in a school district remains the same even though the value of taxable property increases. The net effect is that schools generally do not receive regular inflationary funding increases.

School districts have coped with the effects of H.B.920 by having to make the hard decision to go to voters repeatedly to pass new levies because of the constant decline in revenues that this bill has brought about. Over the years, thousands of new tax levies have been passed in Ohio, not to increase funding but to keep up with inflationary changes. Many other such tax levies have failed. Districts that successfully were able to pass levies were well funded. Those that had difficulty passing levies were poorly funded. This process frequently finds school districts reducing programs to bare minimums when funding does not keep pace with inflation.

The effects of H.B. 920, coupled by the cuts by the Ohio legislature is direct state funding for public education, are what has the Cardinal School District facing severe cuts in education programming, staffing, and the need to impose fees for many additional school activities.

It is important that the state reform the school funding mess in Ohio, and H.B. 920 is a big part of that.