School levy would keep pace with inflation

The CH-UH school board has placed a 4.8 mill levy on the November 2020 ballot. Voting for the levy makes financial sense for our community.

CH-UH has placed a levy on the ballot simply to keep up with inflation. Due to Ohio law, even when the value of district homes rises, the amount of property tax collected is kept constant (estimated at around $72.25 million). With annual inflation of 2 percent, a levy is necessary to keep pace with inflation.

Another reason a levy is required is because our district has been uniquely harmed by how Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program is funded. Even though the state paid our district only $1,927 for each student, our district was required to send out $6,000 to private, charter and religious schools for each EdChoice voucher high school student—a loss of $4,073 per student. And more than 1,500 students used vouchers in our district! A staggering $13 million—roughly 10 percent of the budget—was lost to voucher programs during the 2019–20 year. If EdChoice were directly funded by the state, no levy would be necessary.

While no one is happy with increased taxes, the millage of the [proposed] levy is the smallest [in] at least 25 years, and will cost homeowners only $14 per month per $100,000 in property market value.

Passing the levy is necessary to keep our public schools strong and protect our property values. Please vote for the school levy!

Ryan Routh

Ryan Routh is chair of the CH-UH City School District’s Lay Finance Committee, and a parent of two Heights High students.

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Volume 13, Issue 9, Posted 11:13 AM, 08.11.2020