Article 1 - Our Tax Base

As a requirement of long term financial planning, the school district tracks and measures changes to the financial and demographic composition of its tax base and residents. The data derived from this process allows the district to better prepare for the needs of the district. In addition to assisting administrators as a tool, this data also illustrates how our community is changing.

Lakewood Local School District is comprised of approximately 14,000 residents and many hundreds of businesses, located in seven different communities which include: Licking Township, Union Township, the Village of Hebron, Franklin Township, the Village of Buckeye Lake, the City of Heath, and Bowling Green Township. Of these communities, Licking and Union Township make up over half of the district’s property tax base.

Growth in property value, and new construction value, for residential, commercial, and industrial real estate has been very strong over the past two decades. Commercial property growth has led the way with an average growth rate of 6.10% per year versus 5.52% and 4.25% for residential and industrial property, respectively. The pace of business growth, both in recent years, and as estimated for the future, has and will support the cost of operating and building school facilities. Currently, businesses account for 31% of the community’s tax base. Continued growth will lower the tax burden on each and every homeowner in the future.

Collectively, the make-up of the district’s community has continued to shift in favor of homeowners, almost eliminating the need for “new” taxes, and allowing existing taxes to last longer. This pattern has kept property tax rates lower than most districts in the area, and will almost certainly continue into the future.