The State Auditor’s Office of Ohio announced early Friday it has placed the Mount Healthy City School District in Hamilton County into a “fiscal emergency.”

This comes just days after the school board requested this designation as a result of a projected operating fund deficit near $10.8 million.

A fiscal analysis by the Auditor of State’s Local Government Services Section certified a projected operating deficit of $10,758,000, representing 26% of the district’s general revenue funds for the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2024, the auditor’s office said in a news release Friday.

Mt. Healthy Schools haven’t passed a levy to eliminate that deficit.

Read it here: Auditor’s Fiscal Emergency Declaration

Read it here: Auditor’s Fiscal Analysis

What has to happen for a school district to be in a fiscal emergency?

Under state law, the Auditor of State’s Office declares a school district to be in fiscal emergency when:

• An operating deficit has been certified for the current fiscal year by the Auditor of State, and the certified operating deficit exceeds 15% of the district’s general fund revenue for the preceding fiscal year;

• A levy has not been passed by the voting electors that will raise enough additional revenue in the succeeding fiscal year so that the first condition will not apply to the district in the next succeeding year.

News: Mount Healthy City Schools to layoff 80 employees, including 67 teachers

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What’s next for Mount Healthy Schools?

With Friday’s declaration, the school district will come under the oversight of a financial planning and supervision commission.

Within 120 days of its first meeting, that commission, with assistance from the board of education and the community, must develop a plan to eliminate the fiscal emergency conditions.

The Auditor of State serves as the “financial supervisor” of the panel and will provide accounting training and assistance to ensure compliance with the recovery plan and various accounting rules and reports.

This report was provided by Enquirer media partner FOX19.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mount Healthy Schools placed into ‘fiscal emergency’ by state