The Pennant has written before about Ohio's levy fatigue, and how falling pass rates left school leaders with an explanation problem more than a revenue one. For years, school spending got a pass from voters worn down by the ask. Not anymore — with property tax bills climbing across Ohio, more people are asking where the money actually goes.
Now those leaders are trying something new. Maumee, Springfield, and a growing number of districts are reaching for earned income tax levies instead of property taxes, hoping a different kind of ask earns a different answer.
The levy may look different, but the cost structure behind it hasn't changed. Most of what a district spends has little to do with buildings or buses. Roughly 83% of Ohio's K-12 funding goes to payroll, driven by salaries set under union pay schedules, employee health insurance, and the mandatory 14% employer contribution to the state teacher pension system.
When those costs climb faster than state aid, the gap ends up on a local ballot. Boards present this as a puzzle too complex for ordinary voters. It's arithmetic, and the public is catching on.
That makes teacher contracts worth a hard look. Ohio law requires boards to bargain over pay and benefits, and the agreements lock in automatic raises tied to years served and college credits earned.
Maumee's contract with its teachers' association expires at the end of 2026, the same year the board is asking residents for 1.25%. Voters are being asked to fund a budget before anyone will tell them what the next contract costs.
Enrollment is the part that almost no one raises. Traditional district enrollment across Ohio has fallen more than 5% since just before the pandemic, and Maumee now educates roughly 2,100 students across five buildings. Fewer students rarely means a smaller staff or a smaller budget, because labor contracts and fixed costs hold steady even as the rolls shrink.
None of this means schools don't need help. But most Ohio families have spent the last two years trimming their own budgets to absorb higher taxes and prices. Plenty of districts still act like that; math doesn't apply to them. The fair question at any levy isn't just how much a district wants — it's why the bill keeps climbing while the district teaches fewer kids every year.
Questions, comments and letters to the editor are welcome at [email protected].