Oxford Community Schools

Protecting Your Pocketbook: How Oxford Schools is Cutting Costs and Reducing the Tax Burden

As taxpayers and homeowners, we must all manage our budgets and we expect our schools to do the same. Oxford Community Schools is committed to providing a high-quality education while acting as good stewards of your hard-earned dollars. By reducing reliance on outside contractors, consolidating facilities, and restructuring debt, we are achieving significant savings that will reduce property taxes next year.

For example, by consolidating district administration, Oxford Virtual Academy, Bridges High School, the LOFT program, and other departments into the Oxford Education and Innovation Campus (OEIC), we are now able to sell our former downtown office. Moving the virtual academy out of a commercial strip mall saves over $100,000 annually in rent. Furthermore, selling the downtown building eliminates ongoing maintenance costs and funds current facility upgrades without asking for more money. This sale also places the property back on local tax rolls to generate new revenue for the Village of Oxford.

Inside our schools, we implemented a system to audit positions and limit staffing costs. We are hiring local workers where possible and reducing outside contractors. For instance, we canceled a $275,000 annual contract for sports field maintenance and hired two local groundskeepers, saving over $100,000 a year while gaining versatile employees who can assist with other district repairs.

We applied this same strategy to winter snow plowing. By selling unused equipment to purchase our own plow truck and plowing our elementary schools internally, we will save approximately another $100,000 annually. We also saved taxpayers nearly $390,000 by using our own staff to lead major district projects such as our Strategic Plan, facility standards, data reporting, and informational millage communications. Many school districts hire consulting firms to complete this type of work, but Oxford leveraged the expertise of its own team, keeping those dollars in our community while delivering high-quality results.

This commitment to efficiency is why the August 4th operating millage proposal is so critical. It secures the baseline funding our classrooms rely on, ensuring our cost-cutting measures directly support students rather than just filling a deficit.

True fiscal responsibility means that when we save money, you see it on your tax bill. By paying down our debt early and refinancing at better interest rates, we are lowering your property taxes. In July 2027, our debt tax rate will drop from 7.9 mills to 7.0 mills. For a home with a taxable value of $100,000 (roughly a $200,000 market value), this puts about $90 a year back into your pocket, reducing the community’s overall tax burden by $1.5 million.

We are working hard to prove that an excellent school district does not have to come at an ever-increasing cost to its community. We are proud to deliver a high-quality educational experience for Oxford students while simultaneously shrinking our tax footprint and putting money back into your pockets. Thank you for your continued partnership.