Two school levies suffered similar fate

Levy requests which sought to raise purely new and additional funds for school districts in Lake and Geauga counties proved to be unpopular in the May 4 primary/special election. Voters in the Madison and Kenston school districts both overwhelmingly rejected levies that would have triggered increases in property taxes. Leaders in each school district had been hoping for approval of the levies to secure extra revenue that they claimed was urgently needed.

Madison School District’s 6.99-mill operating levy was rejected by a margin of 2,707 to 892, according to unofficial, final returns from the Lake County and Geauga County elections boards. Only six of the total votes were cast in Geauga, which includes a small portion of Madison School District. The unofficial, final vote tally among those Geauga voters was 3-3.

Passage of the levy would have generated about $2.78 million each year and annually cost taxpayers $244.65 per $100,000 in residential property valuation, according to the Lake County Auditor’s Office.

Madison School Board placed the issue on the ballot as a continuing levy, meaning that it had no expiration date.

If the levy had passed, the additional revenue would have been used to fund the day-today operations of the district and help to maintain the programming that currently exists.

Meanwhile, a 6.5-mill additional levy for Kenston Schools — which consisted of a 4.75-mill operating levy and a 1.75-mill permanent improvement levy — failed by a margin of 3,261 to 1,312, according to unofficial, final returns from the Geauga County Elections Board.

If the continuing levy had passed, it would have generated about $4.35 million per year for operating funds and approximately $1.6 million annually dedicated for permanent improvements. The levy would have cost taxpayers $227.50 per $100,000 in residential property valuation.

Both districts made an earnest effort to explain the need for additional revenue by posting on their websites answers to many frequently asked questions about the levies. Madison Schools also held virtual and in-person town halls to provide information on its proposed additional levy.

However, those attempts to communicate with registered voters in each district failed to drum up solid support.

The final, unofficial tallies reported on May 4 showed that votes against the school levies represented 75 percent of all ballots cast in Madison and 71 percent in Kenston.

So, why did each levy fail by such a large margin?

Perhaps one reason is voters in both school districts remember that it hadn’t been too long since they passed similar ballot issues to generate extra funding.

In the May 2017 election, voters in the Madison School District approved a 4.99-mill additional continuing levy. When voters in the Kenston School District went to the polls in May 2015, they passed an issue that paired a $10 million bond issue with a continuing 4-mill additional operating levy.

Granted, it wasn’t unexpected that either district would be back on the ballot in the near future with new levy requests.

Madison Schools leaders stated at the time of the 2017 levy that “additional funds would be required in about four years — which is the average amount of time between school levies in Ohio,” the district stated in its answers to frequently asked questions about the 2021 levy.

Kenston Schools, in the 2021 Levy Facts feature posted on its website, also noted that operating levies typically last three to four years.

“But Kenston, through diligent fiscal management, has remained off the ballot (six years) since the 2015 operating levy,” the district stated.

But maybe it was the fact that the levies were continuing that bothered voters.

Maybe it was due to the lower turnout of a primary election.

Maybe it was overall levy fatigue.

School boards in Madison and Kenston have much to consider if they strive to change a lot of people’s minds and put their respective school levies back on the ballot.