Voters in Tallmadge and Cuyahoga Falls approved new school tax requests on Tuesday, Nov. 3, bucking a statewide trend in which most Ohio districts asking for additional money came up short, according to unofficial results reported by the Akron Beacon Journal.
Statewide, 71 districts sought a new tax issue for current expenses, construction, or both, and only 22 of them — 31 percent — passed, according to unofficial results compiled by the Ohio School Boards Association and reported by the Beacon Journal. Of all 134 school tax issues on the Nov. 3 ballot across Ohio, 54 percent passed, the association found.
In Tallmadge, 53 percent of roughly 9,500 ballots cast supported the district’s proposed 1 percent earned income tax, according to unofficial results reported by the Beacon Journal. Tallmadge was one of only five Ohio districts to win approval of an income-tax request, while 34 other districts saw earned-income-tax requests rejected.
An earned income tax applies to wages, salaries, self-employment and other earned income, while pensions, Social Security, interest and dividends are exempt and property taxes are not affected, the Beacon Journal explained. Tallmadge Superintendent Steve Wood told the Akron Beacon Journal the district chose the earned income tax after retired residents said they wanted to support the schools but found property taxes and the cost of food, gas and other goods already too high: “That’s why the earned income tax ended up being a solution to give relief to our seniors,” he told the Beacon Journal.
Wood told the Beacon Journal the district plans to restore some previously cut transportation, particularly for students who struggled to attend school since losing busing, though transportation will not be fully restored. “Passing new taxes in the state of Ohio right now is a heavy lift,” Wood told the Beacon Journal.
In Cuyahoga Falls, 51 percent of nearly 17,800 votes supported the district’s five-year, 5.5-mill property tax, Issue 6, according to unofficial results reported by the Beacon Journal. Signal Akron reported the levy is for current expenses, estimated at about $193 per $100,000 of market value and collecting an estimated $6.1 million annually starting in 2026.
Cuyahoga Falls Superintendent Andrea Celico wrote in a statement to the Akron Beacon Journal that the levy will help maintain existing academic and extracurricular programs and help the district avoid state financial oversight. “The passage of Issue 6 does not eliminate the financial challenges facing public education, nor does it mean our work to operate efficiently is finished,” Celico wrote in the statement to the Beacon Journal.
Elsewhere in Summit County, Barberton and Norton voters rejected their districts’ additional levy requests, while Stow-Munroe Falls’ renewal levy passed — renewals passed in 88 percent of districts statewide, the Beacon Journal reported. Ohio School Boards Association CEO Tom Hosler said in a news release quoted by the Akron Beacon Journal: “We saw communities across Ohio step forward to support their schools, particularly when it came to renewing existing taxes. That’s encouraging.” All results are unofficial until the Summit County Board of Elections completes its official canvass and certifies them.
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