As Northern Kentucky school districts set local tax rates this year, a key consideration was how much they anticipated in state funding.
Specifically, districts focus on the chunk of money they receive for their general fund, which comes from a formula called SEEK, which is directly linked to property tax values.
This year, some districts saw SEEK funding shrink, while others saw similar funding levels or increases.
But all Northern Kentucky districts opted to increase how much revenue they generate from local taxpayers.
LINK nky demystifies SEEK state funding and how it relates to your local property tax rates.
How does state funding work?
SEEK considers multiple inputs, but heavily weighs a school district’s property values — and how much revenue it can generate through local taxes.
It works like a seesaw: higher property values reduce SEEK dollars and shift the funding burden onto local taxpayers; lower property values increase SEEK dollars and shift the funding burden away from local taxpayers.
It’s designed so districts with poorer property values and a weaker ability to generate local tax revenue receive more state support.
Though the formula is 36 years old, lawmakers decide every two years how much money to distribute to school districts through the formula, which includes setting a baseline amount of state funding per student each school year. That amount has increased by at least $100 for the last five years.
- 2022-23 baseline funding per pupil: $4,100
- 2023-24 baseline funding per pupil: $4,200
- 2024-25 baseline funding per pupil: $4,326
- 2025-26 baseline funding per pupil: $4,586
- 2026-27 baseline funding per pupil: $4,636
But once plugged into the SEEK formula, that’s not necessarily the sum school districts take home per student.
Property values are one of the biggest deciders of that final amount, according to Chay Ritter, Kentucky Department of Education office of finance and operations director.
“It can be sort of punishing in a way,” Ritter said of the formula.
Daily attendance numbers, the number of English-language learners and students with disabilities and other data also factor in. Another separate formula decides how much money districts receive for transportation, if they provide it, Ritter said. That amount is added to a district’s SEEK funding.
Less SEEK funding this year
Once SEEK is calculated, most Northern Kentucky districts expect less funding overall this year, largely because of rising property values.
All three county school districts are forecasting funding losses of over $1 million, along with Fort Thomas Independent Schools.
Fewer districts, however, are forecasting SEEK losses on a per-student level. That’s determined by many factors involved in the SEEK formula, including student attendance numbers.
In that sense, Northern Kentucky is doing better than the rest of the state, according to analysis by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
That analysis found 89% of Kentucky districts are anticipating a loss in per-pupil SEEK funding this year.
That data also factors in SEEK dollars restricted for building funds, different from the charts LINK nky provided above.
See raw total SEEK numbers below, excluding building funds.
District Total State SEEK 2025-2026 Total State SEEK 2026-2027 Boone County $56,002,161 $54,465,688 Campbell County $13,056,051 $11,868,923 Kenton County $42,342,453 $40,615,243 Beechwood $5,112,415 $5,215,952 Bellevue $1,065,657 $976,284 Covington $14,808,854 $14,296,287 Dayton $4,159,174 $4,022,397 Erlanger-Elsmere $9,865,335 $10,842,173 Fort Thomas $11,037,458 $9,602,218 Ludlow $4,096,013 $4,035,517 Newport $3,623,101 $3,473,287 Southgate $618,932 $473,768 Walton-Verona $7,868,749 $7,973,101
See raw per student SEEK numbers below, excluding building funds.
District Final Per Pupil SEEK 2025-26 Forecast Per Pupil SEEK 2026-27 Boone County $2,950 $2,837 Campbell County $2,773 $2,615 Kenton County $3,281 $3,177 Beechwood $3,448 $3,517 Bellevue $2,297 $2,297 Covington $4,786 $4,887 Dayton $5,636 $5,706 Erlanger-Elsmere $4,449 $4,752 Fort Thomas $3,617 $3,214 Ludlow $5,297 $5,310 Newport $2,939 $2,939 Southgate $3,869 $3,358 Walton-Verona $4,547 $4,690
How does this impact my property taxes?
Anticipation of less funding factored into some Northern Kentucky districts’ decision to generate more revenue locally this year.
Every single district in Northern Kentucky has either proposed or approved generating 4% more revenue than last year through local property taxes.
Campbell County Schools, for example, cited its forecast nearly $1.2 million loss in SEEK funding this year as one reason for proposing property tax rates that will generate 4% more revenue locally.
Fort Thomas Independent School District Superintendent Brian Robinson said his district plans for less SEEK funding every time the state reevaluates property values.
“To a small degree we have reduced staff through attrition, revised resource adoption schedules, budgeted contingency funds, and reduced spending on operations,” Robinson said in an email.
But districts forecasting greater or steady amounts of SEEK revenue still also opted for the 4% local revenue increase this year.
That 4% increase doesn’t necessarily mean bills will increase for all residents in all districts, but rates are increasing in some districts.
See a chart of those proposed rates, compared with last year’s proposed rates below.
Ongoing debate over SEEK
Earlier this month, legislators in Boone County School District clashed with the district’s Board of Education over SEEK and the decision to generate more revenue locally.
Rep. Marianne Proctor, representing Kentucky’s 60th district, told LINK nky the formula shouldn’t become a blanket reason to generate more local tax revenue.
Even at the same time, those legislators said SEEK needs to adapt to the times to address issues like spiking property values.
“The SEEK formula does not contemplate the situation we are in today, where property values are skyrocketing, but income of the residents is not,” said Rep. TJ Roberts, who represents Kentucky’s 66th district.
Roberts told LINK nky he’s interested in options for revising the formula itself, such as an affordability index that would consider not just property values, but income.
Proctor said she believes one solution would be allowing Kentucky residents to vote on all tax increases. Currently, changes to property tax rates only go to a vote if a district wants to generate more than 4% more revenue over the previous year.
Property taxes are broken down into several categories. The first and usually largest chunk of your tax bill is real property tax, sometimes referred to as real estate property tax. This is essentially a tax on everything you own that’s nailed down. For residents, this means houses and other real estate property. For businesses, this means office buildings and other buildings and facilities used to conduct business.
Tangible personal property, on the other hand, is another form of property that isn’t real estate. Depending on where you live, residents may not be taxed on personal property at all–this will vary by jurisdiction.
Depending on where you live, other tax-adjacent fees may apply.
How do property taxes work?
The SEEK debate also circles a bigger argument about whether the state dedicates enough education funding in the first place.
Ritter told LINK nky he remains agnostic on that question.
“They’ve sat in a room and argued about that for years,” Ritter said of Kentucky lawmakers.
Roberts and Proctor said districts need to approach their legislators if they think that’s the case.
“There needs to be a collaborative effort,” Roberts told LINK nky.