A local school bond on the November 3, 2026 ballot: Issue 2, Lakota Local School District, Butler County, Ohio. Type in your home and see what it would cost you. Every number comes from the public record, with the source cited.
The official figures are spread across several documents: millage, abstracts, roll-offs, a plan in one PDF and a ballot line in another. This tool brings them into one place, each traced to its public source, as an example of a new kind of helpful tool for citizens.
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. Figures as of Oct 2, 2026.612
The plan costs $300.6 million. Local taxpayers would pay $223.5 million; the state would pay 33 percent of the $233.8 million co-funded work (about $77 million in the April plan; $76.7 million in the state's July approval). 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, 2026.8
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 and its notes (including the FY2025 transfers), approved by the board Aug 24, 2026. FY2027 on are projections.4
Sources: Lakota Five-Year Forecasts, approved Feb 23 and Aug 24, 2026.4
| Levy | Effective 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 and Current Tax Distribution, tax district M56: each body's effective (after reduction factor) residential rate, before credits.3
Verified Ohio Division of Tax Equalization, 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, not when the debt is paid. The payoff date is set by the bonds themselves, and those were refunded. The district's Sept 25, 2026 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 West Chester home appraised at $322,330 (taxable $112,820), Sept 29 and again Oct 2, 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 calculator shows only the new levy; the current bond tax is on the separate distribution tab.3
Verified An operating levy is in the district's own five-year forecast, approved by the board 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 2029.56 Total repayment, estimated: 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 taxable value the county auditor certified for the resolution ($5,338,361,890).6 The 2026 reappraisal raised values countywide by a median of 19 percent (auditor's FAQ, June 30, 2026);10 the district's August forecast assumes 9 percent for homes.4 Because a bond levy raises a fixed dollar amount, higher values mean fewer mills, not more dollars.
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 (board roll calls). May 20, 2026, resolution of necessity: passed 4 to 1. The same night an earned-income-tax alternative failed 2 to 3. June 9, 2026, resolution to proceed: passed 5 to 0.6
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 ($300,627,663); state share 33 percent of the $233.8M co-funded work, about $77.1M; 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 $76,681,895, and the board must accept by Nov 25, 2026.8
Verified Enrollment (FutureThink study, done at the state's request, March 11, 2026): 17,249 students in all in 2025 to 26. On the study's projection basis (16,913, which leaves out regular preschool and full-time JVS students), enrollment peaks near 17,116 in 2029 to 30 and ends 358 lower by 2035 to 36. The district's March 26, 2026 post says the state's 2024 study had forecast about 2,000 more students over ten years; its FAQ says buildings are over capacity by more than 700 today.97
Verified The credits are changing under state law. The 10 percent non-business and 2.5 percent owner-occupancy credits apply only to levies approved before late 2013; the state abstract marks the 2000 and 2005 bonds as qualifying, and a new bond would not.110 House Bill 186 raises the owner-occupancy credit (to as much as 15.38 percent) and phases the non-business credit down to zero over four years starting tax year 2026, on qualifying levies only. Its inflation-cap credit is $0 for the Lakota school levies, because the district's operating levies have not reached the 20-mill floor; Lakota homes may still get the Butler Tech (JVSD) portion, estimated at $12.16 per $100,000. House Bill 96's veto override (item 66, completed Oct 1, 2025) ends replacement, emergency and substitute levies for elections on or after Jan 1, 2026. This page shows the bill before credits; your treasurer's bill applies them.1011
Where this comes from. Every number above traces to one of these. Tap a superscript to jump here.
Last verified Oct 2, 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 including 2006, 2013, 2016, 2020, 2020A and 2020B), which is why they are paid off years before the levies' authorized end dates.2 |
| 2024 | A state enrollment study projects about 2,000 more students over ten years. (The district's facilities planning began in 2018.)7 |
| June 30, 2025 | Board votes 4 to 1 to place a $506,359,503 bond (4.99 mills, $175 per $100,000) and a 0.95-mill permanent-improvement levy ($33 per $100,000) on the November ballot: $208 per $100,000 as written. The district put the net change, after the old bonds end, at 2.66 mills, about $93 per $100,000.7 |
| Nov 4, 2025 | Voters reject it as Issue 10: 60.8 percent against.12 |
| Mar 11, 2026 | A new enrollment study (FutureThink) reverses the forecast: 17,249 students now and a projected decline of 358 by 2035 to 36. The district says buildings are over capacity by more than 700 today.97 |
| Apr 13, 2026 | The board sees "The Plan": grades 6 to 12 only, four campuses, $300.6 million total, about $77 million from the state (33 percent of the co-funded work), $223.5 million local, 21 buildings to 18.7 |
| May 20, 2026 | Resolution of necessity passes 4 to 1. 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 board approves a five-year forecast that 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 25, 2026 | The district publishes its bond roll-off schedule: four outstanding series totaling $34.9 million, with about 2.2 mills rolling off after 2028.7 |
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 uses each body's effective residential rate from the county. 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 and FY2025 audits; Butler County BOE certified Nov 3, 2026 issues; Lakota five-year forecast updates.