Cincinnati voters approved Issue 4 on Tuesday, November 3, giving Cincinnati Public Schools its first new tax increase in a decade, according to unofficial results reported by The Cincinnati Enquirer. The five-year property tax levy passed with 60% of the vote with all precincts reporting, and WCPO also projected passage for the measure, projected to raise about $66.3 million a year for the region’s largest school district.
The levy is set at 7 mills and will cost property owners $245 per $100,000 of property value each year for five years, The Enquirer reported. Superintendent Shauna Murphy told families in a Wednesday morning email, as reported by The Enquirer, that collections begin in January and that the district will explain how the revenue supports its schools as it updates the budget.
“With the passage of Issue 4, we can protect the progress our schools are making and keep working toward the promise we have made to every child,” Murphy said in a press release shared on Tuesday night and in her statement posted by Cincinnati Public Schools. “Our promise is that every student graduates ready for college, career, military or entrepreneurship.” In that district statement, Murphy also pledged to explain where the money goes and to report on student results.
School board president Brandon Craig told The Enquirer in a text message that it was “a great night for our students, our families, and the Cincinnati Public Schools community,” adding that the district would now implement its strategic plan and get to work. The district previously told The Enquirer that the new revenue means it can continue operating at current staff levels and secure long-term fiscal health, though it has not specified whether it can rehire staff affected by this year’s cuts.
The vote followed a difficult budget year. Cincinnati Public Schools cut more than 100 jobs and implemented five furlough days to close a $58.6 million deficit over the summer, according to The Enquirer. District treasurer Mike Gustin said the property tax is meant to make up for shrinking amounts of state aid and local tax revenue the district has seen in recent years, The Enquirer reported.
The measure also drew organized opposition. Leaders from the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the Cincinnati Business Committee asked district officials in a September 14 letter to remove the property tax from the ballot, calling it “ill-advised,” The Enquirer reported, while critics argued the timing was wrong for families facing rising costs. Voters sided with the district, giving it its first new-money levy since 2016, when a 7.93-mill, five-year tax raised about $48 million a year for the district’s preschool program, according to The Enquirer.
What happens next is budget work. Results remain unofficial until certified, and the district must now fold the new revenue — with collections beginning in January, according to Murphy’s message to families reported by The Enquirer — into its updated budget and strategic plan. District leaders have said they will share decisions affecting individual schools and services as that update takes shape.