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Tax issues are pretty important to Ohio's schools.While K-12 districts do receive money from both federal and state governments, many rely heavily on local funds to support a big chunk of their operating budgets.While there are a handful of income tax requests this year, the majority comes from taxing the property of district residents. More than two-thirds of statewide property tax levies go to fund schools, according to the state.Districts can ask voters to finance a variety of costs, including current expenses, facility improvements, and emergency requirements.Collectively this fall, more than 145 school districts across the state will ask voters to approve 163 tax issues.Before checking out our searchable statewide school tax issue database below, here are some important points to know about this year's election:
- There are fewer tax issues. In 2013, the state's voters decided on 194 school tax issues. In 2012, there were 193. This fall, there are 163 school issues.
Damon Asbury, the director for legislative services for the Ohio School Board Association, thinks that slight decline is a little weird."Typically, gubernatorial or presidential election cycles have more ballot issues than fewer," he said. "So with respect to schools, it’s kind of an atypical pattern that there are fewer requests."
- It's tough to pass new requests for additional money. That's been the case for several years--especially for rural schools. Voters have a tendency to approve renewal requests, but typically deny any issues that may cost them more money.
"Times are difficult for people," said Asbury. "We still have a lot of unemployment, we still have a lot of underemployment in the state, money is tight. You have to make a very convincing case for a community to help them understand that yes, in fact, we do need more money."
- Several of the "Big Eight" districts have levies on the ballot. Three of the state's biggest urban districts (that'd be Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Youngstown, Akron, Canton, Toledo, and Dayton) are asking for more money. Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo all have issues on ballots.
- The average mill size ranges from three to six. According to the Ohio Department of Taxation, property tax rates are defined in mills. One mill is equal to $1 per $1,000 of taxable income.
Asbury said this year's average millage request ranges from three to six mills.But there are a few districts asking for substantially more this year, including Ashland County's Hillsdale Local (a renewal of 20.1 mills), Mahoning County's Campbell City (a renewal of 14.4 mills), and Hamilton County's Lockland Local (an addition of 11.2 mills).You can see an expanded tax issue breakdown with millage rates on the Ohio Secretary of State's website, as well as searching our database below.[spreadsheet key="0AteMeGf8PvyGdG9KWHk4SEt4TGl0dFFiNzJVWktVVVE" source="" filter=1 paginate=1 sortable=1]Source: Ohio Secretary of State's office