CHICAGO — Ohio voters shot down 13 of 17 levy requests by school districts in the recent election, a series of defeats that Moody's Investors Service warns could pressure the fiscal positions of several of the districts.
The defeat of the levy requests is credit negative for those 13 districts, Moody's said in a comment released Friday.
"We anticipate that a share of these districts will face additional credit pressure given their current narrow state of financial reserves," analysts said in the comment.
The districts of Lordstown, Ravenna, and Springfield will face particular pressure, the ratings agency warned.
Those districts are expected to end fiscal 2015 with very narrow general fund balances, and each has lost levy requests in the past.
"We downgraded the ratings of all three districts earlier this year due to narrowing financial reserves and the inability to increase local revenue," Moody's said. "The outlooks on all three districts are also negative due to the possibility of further budgetary pressure."
The remaining 10 districts have stronger fiscal positions, Moody's said.
Voters' approval of levy increases in four of the 17 districts is credit positive for those districts, analysts said. They include the Toledo City School District, which won its first operating levy increase since 1991.
