In a big test of voters' appetite for income taxes versus property taxes, Northeast Ohio voters largely rejected school districts' income tax levies on the ballot Tuesday night.
In total, it appeared as if just one of the 11 requests for new income taxes were approved by voters in unofficial results shared by county boards of election Tuesday. Income tax levies represented a third of all school levy requests in Northeast Ohio. It was also a hard night for districts seeking new property taxes, where the vast majority of the 22 new requests for property taxes failed.
Parma City School District was one of the largest school districts where voters rejected an income tax levy, which failed Tuesday night by almost a 20-point margin. The district has failed to to get a levy for new money passed since 2011. Leaders there had said they would have provided property tax relief if the income tax had passed. An income tax to fund new schools also failed at New Philadelphia schools in Tuscarawas County. Wickliffe City School District was the sole success, winning by about 100 votes.
In general, schools' income tax requests have had a 50-50 record of success in past years, the Ohio School Boards Association has previously said.
Some Northeast Ohio school districts have said their financial outlooks looked dire if voters did not approve their levy requests in May. Many schools throughout the region have already had to submit budget reduction plans to the state this year, with advocates blaming the state for failing to adequately fund public schools.
The narrow passage of a continuing, 11-mill levy Tuesday night will allow Lorain City School District to avert layoffs and potentially steeper cuts. The district had submitted a plan to cut more than 160 jobs, many of them teachers, due to losing almost $6.7 million in state, local and federal funds over the last year.
Other districts like Norton and Barberton did not fare so well, however. Both districts had outlined plans to lay off staff in recent months, situations that could worsen by their levies failing Tuesday night. Barberton is listed under "fiscal caution" by the state, the first of three levels of state oversight, and it had already planned to lay off almost 90 staff prior to the levy's failure. Streetsboro schools' third consecutive levy also failed, despite district leaders warning they would need to get rid of junior varsity sports and arts electives for students.
Several other larger districts in the region hitched their hopes to traditional property taxes to fund operations with better results. Despite controversy last year over a consolidation plan, Lakewood City School District's additional levy passed, as did one for Solon schools. Kent City Schools' 9.8-mill operating levy passed, while Mentor Schools' 4.9-mill levy was rejected by voters.
The election comes as voters and Ohio legislators have pushed for property-tax relief in recent months, after historic property value increases in recent years. A group advocating to abolish all property taxes said it likely won't make it to the ballot for fall 2026 due to a lack of enough signatures, .
Renewals of levies, typically far less controversial than schools' requests to increase taxes, were largely successful Tuesday night.
