On your tax bill and the county's property search.
Or try a real Lakota home:
| Levy | Today (2026) | 2029 if it passes | 2029 if it fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| School-bond tax per year |
Your actual bill is a bit lower after state credits; the old bonds get them, and Issue 2 would not. The 2029 columns are estimates: the county sets bond rates each year, and the ballot's 2.20 mills is an average over 37 years. None of this includes the possible operating levy below, which is not on this ballot.
Source: Issue 2 ballot language and board resolution (June 9, 2026); Ohio DTE 27 tax rate abstract, tax year 2025; Lakota audited debt schedule, FY2025.
The plan costs $300.6 million. The state would pay $76.7 million and local taxpayers $223.5 million. Grades 6 to 12 move into 4 campuses, and 21 buildings become 18.
Source: Lakota board presentation "The Plan," April 13, 2026; Ohio Facilities Construction Commission conditional approval, July 28, 2026.
The district's own forecast shows its general fund cash going negative in FY2030 without new money. It assumes a 3.6-mill operating levy from 2029. That levy is separate from Issue 2 and is not on this ballot. The treasurer's notes add that savings from the facilities plan could reduce or remove the need for it.
Source: Lakota Five-Year Forecast (with its notes on the FY2025 transfers), filed with the state Aug 24, 2026. FY2027 on are projections.
Sources: Lakota Five-Year Forecasts, filed Feb 23 and Aug 24, 2026.
| Levy | Mills | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Total, before credits |
Issue 6 on the same ballot renews the county's 1-mill mental-health levy at the current rate.
Source: Butler County Auditor, 2025 tax rates, tax district M56. Split by millage, before credits.
Verified Ohio Department of Taxation, DTE 27 Abstract of Tax Rates, tax year 2025, Butler County, Lakota LSD. Two bond levies are on the books:1
| Rate | Purpose | Voted | Term | Levy authorized through |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.000 | Bond ($44,571,000) | Nov 7, 2000 | 26 yrs | tax year 2025 (collected 2026) |
| 1.280 | Bond ($84,300,000) | Nov 8, 2005 | 28 yrs | tax year 2032 |
| 2.280 | total bond mills today | |||
The "authorized through" year is how long the levy may run. It is where the claim that the 2005 bond "falls off in 2034" comes from. The payoff date is set by the bonds themselves, and those were refunded. The district's own post says the same: four series totaling $34.9 million, an average 2.28 mills needed 2026 to 2028, the 2005 series paid off in 2026, the 2020 series in 2027, the 2020A series in 2028.7
Verified Ohio Auditor of State, Lakota LSD audited financial statements, FY2023, debt note. The 2005-dated series (the 2006 Refunding) matures December 1, 2026. The 2020 Refunding matures December 1, 2027. The 2013 refunding of the 2005 bonds matures December 1, 2029. The only series maturing in 2034 is the 2014 school improvement bonds.2 Updated by the FY2025 audit (opinion dated Dec 26, 2025): bonds outstanding $61.58M principal at June 30, 2025; the 2006 Refunding ($9.66M) matures Dec 1, 2026; the 2020 Refunding ($13.9M) Dec 1, 2027; the 2020A and 2020B refundings ($30.9M) carry no printed maturity; a 2016 refunding runs to Dec 1, 2033. Debt service by fiscal year: FY2026 $14.44M, FY2027 $14.20M, FY2028 $14.22M, FY2029 $12.42M (the last big maturity, paid from taxes collected in 2028), FY2030 $2.09M, then about $2.0M a year through FY2035. The audit's note: bonds are paid "from the debt service and permanent improvement funds." In FY2025 the debt-service fund paid $9.47M and the permanent-improvement fund $1.81M.2
Unknown Whether the smaller series after 2028 are paid from the voted bond levy or from the 2-mill permanent-improvement fund. That decides whether a residual of up to about a third of a mill stays on the bill in 2029 to 2035 either way. A public-records request for the debt-service schedule by series and by fund settles it.
Verified The county's own Levy Calculator, run on a real West Chester parcel (a 1974 ranch on Tylersville Rd, appraised $322,330), Sept 29, 2026. It shows the Lakota bond as Current Tax $0.00, Additional Tax $248.20. The same parcel's Current Tax Distribution tab shows the two existing Lakota bonds at 2.28 mills, $257.21 a year. The county's page never puts those two numbers together. This one does.3
Verified An operating levy is in the district's own five-year forecast, filed with the state Feb 23, 2026 and again Aug 24, 2026: a new 3.6-mill operating levy assumed to pass in 2028 and collect from 2029 ($11.3M in FY2029, $21.8M in FY2030). It is on no ballot. It would apply whether Issue 2 passes or fails.4
Verified Issue 2 as certified by the Butler County Board of Elections and the board's June 9, 2026 resolution (5 to 0): a bond issue of $223,483,492 over 37 years, estimated average 2.20 mills, about $77 per $100,000 of market value on a certified taxable value of $5,338,361,890, bonds dated about Feb 1, 2027 at an estimated net average interest rate of 5.00%, first collection 2029.5 What "$223 million in debt" means in full: at the resolution's 5% estimate and level payments over 37 years, total repayment would be roughly $495 million, about $13.4 million a year, of which about $271 million is interest. That is an arithmetic estimate from the resolution's own figures, not a district number; the real schedule depends on the rates when the bonds sell.6
Verified One mill in Lakota is about $5.34 million on the tax year 2025 taxable value certified by the county auditor. The 2026 reappraisal raised values countywide by a median of 19 percent (auditor's FAQ, June 30, 2026); the district's August forecast assumes 9 percent for homes. Because a bond levy raises a fixed dollar amount, higher values mean fewer mills, not more dollars.10
Verified The ballot question, as the board's June 9, 2026 resolution sets it: "Shall bonds be issued by the Lakota Local School District... in the principal amount of $223,483,492, to be repaid annually over a maximum period of 37 years, and an annual levy of property taxes be made outside the ten-mill limitation, estimated by the county auditor to average over the repayment period of the bond issue 2.20 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $77 for each $100,000 of the county auditor's market value, commencing in 2028, first due in calendar year 2029..."6
Verified The votes (BoardDocs roll calls). May 20, 2026, resolution of necessity: yes Argo, Nguyen, Shaffer, Casper; no Horton. The same night an earned-income-tax alternative failed 2 to 3 (yes Horton, Shaffer; no Argo, Nguyen, Casper). June 9, 2026, resolution to proceed: yes Argo, Horton, Nguyen, Shaffer, Casper; no votes, none.6
Verified What the money builds (board deck, April 13, 2026, "The Plan"). Plains Junior addition and renovation $58.7M; East Freshman addition and renovation $55.3M; East High School campus $57.6M; West High School campus $58.3M; demolition of Ridge, Adena and Creekside/West Freshman about $3.8M; locally funded items $51.5M; permanent improvements $15.3M. Total $300.6M, state share 33 percent, local share $223,483,492. Grades K to 5 stay in 13 elementaries; 6 to 8 at East Freshman and Plains; 9 to 12 at East and West. Twenty-one buildings become eighteen. The state's Facilities Construction Commission gave conditional approval July 28, 2026 (Classroom Facilities Assistance Program, Segment One): state share $76.7M, and the board must accept by Nov 25, 2026.8
Verified Enrollment (FutureThink study for the district, March 11, 2026): 17,249 students in 2025 to 26, projected to fall by about 358 by 2035 to 36, with a peak near 17,116 in 2029 to 30. The district's FAQ says the 2024 forecast of 2,000 more students was revised to a decline, and that buildings are over capacity by more than 700 today. The "19,000 by 2033" figure still quoted in some coverage is the old forecast.9
Verified Neighbors' bond mills, tax year 2025 (state abstract): Lakota 2.28, Fairfield City Schools 1.50, Talawanda 3.50. Mason, Sycamore and Princeton bond lines were not retrievable from their counties this week.1
Verified The credits are changing under state law. The owner-occupancy credit applies only to levies passed in or before November 2013 (the 2000 and 2005 bonds qualify; a new bond would not). House Bill 186 phases the owner-occupancy credit up and the non-business credit down to zero over four years starting tax year 2026, and its inflation-cap credit is $0 for Lakota homes because the district is above the 20-mill floor. House Bill 96's override ended replacement levies and school emergency and substitute levies for issues proposed after Jan 1, 2026. This page shows the bill before credits; your treasurer's bill applies them.11
Where this comes from. Every number above traces to one of these. Tap a superscript to jump here.
Last verified Sept 29, 2026. Corrections: if a number here is wrong, the page changes and says what changed. Built from public records by a resident; the county treasurer's bill is always the record.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Nov 2000 | Voters approve a $44,571,000 bond, 1.00 mill, 26 years.1 |
| Nov 2005 | Voters approve an $84,300,000 bond, 1.28 mills, 28 years. Together the two levies are the 2.28 mills on today's bill.1 |
| 2006 to 2020 | The district refinances those bonds several times at lower rates (refunding series in 2006, 2013, 2016, 2020, 2020A, 2020B), which is why they are paid off years before the levies' authorized end dates.2 |
| 2024 | An enrollment forecast projects about 2,000 more students; the board begins a Master Facilities Plan.7 |
| June 30, 2025 | Board votes 4 to 1 to place a $506 million bond plus a 0.95-mill permanent-improvement levy on the November ballot: 4.99 mills, about $93 per $100,000, ten buildings demolished, six built, district-wide.7 |
| Nov 4, 2025 | Voters reject it, about 61 percent no. The same night Benjamin Nguyen, 18, who entered the race to oppose the levy, wins a board seat.12 |
| Mar 11, 2026 | A new enrollment study (FutureThink) reverses the forecast: 17,249 students now, about 358 fewer by 2035 to 36, with buildings still over capacity by more than 700 today.9 |
| Apr 13, 2026 | The board sees "The Plan": grades 6 to 12 only, four campuses, $300.6 million total, 33 percent from the state, $223.5 million local, 21 buildings to 18.7 |
| May 20, 2026 | Resolution of necessity passes 4 to 1 (yes Argo, Nguyen, Shaffer, Casper; no Horton). An earned-income-tax alternative fails 2 to 3.6 |
| June 9, 2026 | Resolution to proceed passes 5 to 0: $223,483,492, 37 years, estimated 2.20 mills, first collection 2029, timed to the old bonds finishing.6 |
| July 28, 2026 | The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission gives conditional approval; state share $76.7 million; the board must accept by Nov 25, 2026.8 |
| Aug 17, 2026 | The Board of Elections certifies it as Issue 2.5 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | The district's five-year forecast again models a 3.6-mill operating levy for 2028, and says the facilities plan's savings could reduce or remove the need for it.4 |
| Sept 2026 | The district publishes its bond roll-off chart. Opponents publish competing numbers. This page puts the documents side by side.7 |
Ohio taxes 35 percent of a home's appraised value. West Chester Township homes in Lakota are tax district M56, about 47 effective mills on a home; Liberty Township homes in Lakota (D20) are about 45 because the township rate is lower, and the school lines are identical. Your bill is that rate on 35 percent of the value you set. One mill is about $35 per $100,000.
Pass or fail: Issue 2's collection begins in 2029, so it does not change today's bill. The chart compares the 2 outcomes year by year for the value you set. All figures are before credits. Issue 6 is a countywide mental-health renewal at the same rate you pay now.
Honest about the numbers: the district rates and ballot figures are the county's TY2025 numbers and the certified ballot; the split across bodies is apportioned by millage until per-levy factors are loaded. Your treasurer's bill is always the record. Sources: Ohio DTE 27 abstract, tax year 2025; Butler County Auditor 2025 Tax Rates and Levy Calculator; Ohio Auditor of State, Lakota FY2023 audit; Butler County BOE certified Nov 3, 2026 issues; Lakota five-year forecast updates.