'Chaos' Preceded Property Tax Vote, Cincinnati Public Schools' Board Says
Ohio school funding cuts draw sharp criticism. Ohio criticized for shifting school funding to local taxpayers — Columbus pays $14,117 vs $4,442 state aid.
The Cincinnati Public Schools' board voted on August 3 to place a 7-mill property tax on the November ballot. This decision reverses a previous vote for an earned income tax, which faced bipartisan political opposition.
Board members described the process as chaotic, citing coercion and disruption from union members during meetings.
Cincinnati Public Schools' Board of Education vote on August 3 to rescind its support of an earned income tax and instead place a 7-mill property tax on the November ballot was the result of days of chaos, confusion and coercion, board members said.
Put in place just days before the county's August 5 filing deadline for ballot issues, the tax spanning five years would amount to $245 per $100,000 of a home's assessed value. It would provide over $66 million for the district annually.
Talks of raising local taxes to allocate more dollars to the district have dominated board discussions this year, including in the June meeting wherein the board cut over 100 personnel in an effort to counteract a $58.6 million deficit. Union officials say the board should have placed a levy on the ballot years ago.
The board's action on Monday night came after hours of discussion and what members described as disruptive and divisive responses from CPS union members, who held up posters criticizing the board's levy discussions. Several union members also shouted at the board, including exclaiming "shame!" and demanding the resignation of board member Kendra Mapp.
Mapp said she felt disheartened by some community members' attempts to lobby against the board's income tax vote and was the sole "no" vote in both the reversal of the income tax and the property tax votes on Monday night.
"The focus does not seem to be about our children," Mapp said. "Board members are being bullied, coerced ... individuals are manipulating the vote."
Board President Brandon Craig also alluded to the backlash directed at the board last week and from those who championed a property tax in the August 3 public comment.
"I have real concerns that the voices that would choose to try and be the loudest voices in support of this [levy] campaign have also been the voices that have caused the most disruption over this last week," Craig said.
Board president condemns audience members for disrupting meeting
Amid the board's lengthy levy discussions, Craig made several warnings about having audience members escorted out if they were unable to maintain decorum.
"If folks want to chit chat, yell and scream, take yourself outside and do so," Craig said while addressing the meeting's audience. "We just sat here and talked about how we have to be creating a space that is inclusive and respectful and if you all cannot do so, we don't need you in this room."
The board's property tax vote reverses course from its polarizing, 5-2 vote in a special meeting on July 27 for what would have been CPS's first ever earned income tax, which prompted backlash from both of the county's political parties.
The day after the board's move toward an income tax, the executive committee of the Hamilton County Democratic Party voted 50-23 to urge the school board to rethink the levy. Hamilton County's Republican Party also released a statement opposing the income tax, calling it "irresponsible" and "reckless."
All seven of the school board members are Democrats, though the position is officially nonpartisan.