This story will be updated as results become available.
Voters in four Summit County school districts and in Wadsworth have cast their ballots to decide whether to increase their taxes to help their schools address forecasted funding gaps. Polls closed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 5.
The first unofficial results are in, showing many trailing levies. Norton and Wadsworth residents defeated their proposed school levies.
Results will be updated throughout the evening as the Summit County Board of Elections releases its latest totals.
Barberton and Tallmadge city school districts are seeking new property tax levies. Norton and Twinsburg city school districts are seeking earned income tax levies.
And in Medina County, voters in the Wadsworth City School District were deciding the fate of a 1.5% earned income tax ballot.
School leaders have said that reduced state funding and increased costs due to inflation are the primary reasons they are facing funding gaps.
Issue 1: Barberton City Schools seeks 11-mill property tax levy
Barberton City Schools, placed in fiscal caution in March, is seeking an 11-mill property tax levy to avoid further state fiscal oversight.
Those against the tax levy are up with 2,385 votes. Those for the levy have 1,298 votes.
If approved, Issue 1 would generate nearly $6 million a year for district operations. It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $385 a year. Collections would begin in January.
District officials have said the continuous levy would help stabilize the district’s finances long term but will not stop the multimillion-dollar reductions the district must make next school year. The cuts include cutting the full-time equivalent of 87 positions, including teachers, aides and administrators.
Barberton school leaders previously said that previous inaccurate financial forecasts had led district leaders to believe that financial trouble was years away. The Ohio Auditor’s Office is investigating the inaccurate forecasts. District officials have said no money is missing, and no one is accused of wrongdoing.
Issue 2: Norton City Schools voters defeat earned income tax levy request
With every voting precinct reporting, voters have defeated Norton’s proposed income tax levy by about 600 votes.
Norton’s 0.75% earned income tax levy request – Issue 2 – sought to increase the district’s existing 0.50% earned income tax rate to 1.25%, beginning Jan. 1.
About 59% of voters, or 2,048 votes, went against the levy, according to unofficial results. Those in favor cast 1,416 votes.
The half-percent earned income tax, which voters approved in 2018, generated $2.16 million for the district last school year. The increase, if approved, would generate an additional $3 million a year once it is fully implemented, according to district officials.
The proposed levy would apply only to a resident’s earned income, which does not include retirement income or investment earnings, and would not impact property taxes. It would not apply to people who work in Norton but live outside district boundaries.
For a resident earning $50,000 a year, the increase would cost an additional $375 a year. The same resident is currently paying $250 a year at the 0.50% earned income tax rate.
District leaders have said the proposed levy would help stabilize the district’s finances, not expand or restore previous cuts.
Norton, which already has the lowest per-pupil expense in Summit County, has outlined $9 million worth of reductions over the next three years.
The district of 1,970 students already has eliminated an assistant treasurer and network administrator, will not fill a vacant maintenance position and reduced its supplies budget by 10%.
Starting next school year, Norton will eliminate districtwide open enrollment to help reduce student enrollment, which will allow the district to consolidate buildings, reduce staffing, cut administrators’ hours and lower utility and insurance costs.
Under the planned merger, students from Norton Primary School will be moved to Norton Elementary, which will serve students in preschool through third grade. Norton Middle School will serve students in fourth grade through seventh grade, and Norton High School will serve students in grades 8-12. Norton Primary will continue to be used to support district operations, according to the plan.
Issue 3: Tallmadge City Schools seeks a 5.6-mill property tax levy
Tallmadge’s 5.6-mill continuing property tax levy request would generate nearly $3.7 million a year for district operations, if approved. Issue 3 would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $196 a year.
With 2,439 votes, those against the property tax levy are in the lead, while those in favor of the levy are behind with 2,108 votes.
The last time voters in the district, which includes some residents in Portage County’s Brimfield Township, approved new operating funds was in 2019.
While voters in November approved a 7.5-mill continuing renewal levy, district leaders have said the funding, which hasn’t increased since 2016, isn’t enough to withstand cuts to state aid and inflationary cost increases for electricity, fuel and classroom supplies.
The district, which operates on a $37 million budget and serves roughly 2,400 students, already has lowered its expenses by $1 million a year through reducing three administrator and six teacher positions, eliminating student field trips and instituting a hiring freeze. It also has secured philanthropic and local foundation funding to help support athletic programs, classroom programs and student opportunities.
If the May levy fails, officials have said another $2 million in reductions will need to be made next school year. Those reductions likely would include the elimination of busing for high schoolers and families who live within two miles of an elementary school, more staffing cuts and increased pay-to-participate fees.
Issue 4: Twinsburg City Schools seeks a 1.25% earned income tax levy
Twinsburg is seeking a 1.25% earned income tax levy that, if approved, would generate $12 million for district operations, starting Jan. 1.
Those voting against the levy are leading with 3,396 votes, while those in favor have 2,062 votes, according to the unofficial results.
For a resident earning $50,000 a year, Issue 4 would cost $625 a year. The tax would not apply to a resident’s retirement income and would not impact property taxes. The tax would only apply to district residents, not people who work in Twinsburg but live outside the school district.
This is the first time the district of 3,800 students has sought an earned income tax.
District leaders have outlined $2 million worth of reductions that will take place next school year – regardless of the levy’s outcome. The planned reductions include cutting roughly 20 staff members through attrition or the elimination of positions.
Voters defeat the Wadsworth City School District that sought 1.5% earned income tax levy
Voters have defeated the Wadsworth City School District that sought a 1.5% earned income tax “to maintain the current level of services” and “to address a looming $6 million deficit,” according to an information sheet posted on the district’s website.
With 5,440 votes against it, Wadsworth residents rejected the levy. Just over 4,240 votes were cast in favor of the issue,
“The underlying issue is limited revenue growth over the past five years, not poor financial practices,” the district stated on the informational sheet. “The School District cannot just cut its way out of the issue and still maintain the level of services it provides to its students. During this period, both state funding and local property tax revenue have remained relatively stagnant, while operating costs have continued to rise due to inflationary pressures that affect all households and organizations. These increasing costs include salaries, benefits, utilities, transportation, and contracted services.”
The tax would not apply to a resident’s retirement income and would not impact property taxes. The tax would only apply to district residents, not people who work in Wadsworth but live outside the school district.
Bryce Buyakie is an Akron-based reporter who covers the courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X @bryce_buyakie.
Reach Akron Beacon Journal education writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kweir@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Barberton, Norton, Tallmadge, Twinsburg, Wadsworth school levy results
Reporting by Kelli Weir and Bryce Buyakie, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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