CORTLAND — Three Lakeview Local Schools employees will be laid off at the end of the school year as the district responds to tightening finances driven by tax reforms and slowing revenue growth.

“If the Trumbull County commissioners enact the piggyback expansion, we would have to make further reductions to balance the budget,” Superintendent Ashley Handrych said at Monday’s Board of Education meeting.

The layoffs mark the first concrete step in what district officials have warned will be a period of financial strain. Lakeview entered fiscal year 2026 on stable footing, but Treasurer Terry Armstrong has cautioned that a combination of proposed property tax rollback expansions at the county level and new state limits on property tax growth will flatten revenue while expenses continue to rise. That outlook is now beginning to take hold.

At Monday’s meeting, two teachers and one classified employee were issued Reduction In Force notices. Those affected are Christopher Romano, a high school business teacher hired in August 2022; Alyssa Tillis, a high school English teacher hired in September 2023; and Jennifer Somerville, a print shop operator hired in October 2024, according to board records.

At the same time, House Bills 129 and 186 limit how much the district can benefit from rising property values, removing a key source of recent revenue growth. Lakeview saw more than $2.2 million in increased property tax revenue between fiscal years 2023 and 2025, but those gains are not expected to continue. Forecasts show revenue increasing less than 1% annually through 2030, while expenses are projected to rise about 3% per year.

If the county moves forward with an expanded rollback without state reimbursement, the district could lose more than $212,000 annually starting in fiscal year 2027, deepening projected deficits.

In other business, the district accepted the resignations of six tutors funded through a federal American Rescue Plan grant administered by the United Way of Trumbull County. The grant has ended and no replacement funding is in place.