CLEVELAND — After a summer in which many property owners learned their taxes would go up starting in 2024 thanks to a state-required reassessment, those same property owners will vote again on whether to raise taxes again.
Across Northeast Ohio, school districts and other entities with voting systems will face an uphill battle to get voters to fund a variety of projects after being reevaluated.
Outside his home in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood, Charles Barrett still can’t believe his home has just been revalued for 41 percent more than its current value.
Once everything is done and finalized, we anticipate paying an additional $500 each year in property taxes.
“I was a little shocked,” he said. “It’s a little bit more than anyone can afford economically.”
Barrett told News 5 that he was unable to dispute his valuation after the letter was mailed because appraisers were in such high demand.
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Charles Barrett (left) talks about how his property values have changed since living in the West Park neighborhood.
As a result, Barrett acknowledged that her reassessment will likely influence how she votes on a variety of issues in this election, including voting criteria from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
“It was very bad timing for the school district to request an increase,” Barrett said. “At least for now, the financial burden on residents is too much. It happened all at once.”
In Barrett’s case, on top of the $500 increase in reassessment she already faces, if the levy passes, the district would pay nearly $600 more annually.
And Cleveland residents aren’t the only ones facing the impact of seemingly double taxes.
Several Northeast Ohio school districts face their own levies and bond issuances within the seven counties that just completed the state’s mandatory real estate reassessment, with homeowners receiving an average of about 30% I am experiencing an increase in asset value.
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Average rate of increase in real estate revaluations by gender year in Ohio for 2024 (data provided by the Ohio Department of Taxation).
The following school districts are currently facing new ballot measures or updates in counties that just completed property reassessments.
Cuyahoga County – (Average 32.17% increase in property assessment): Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Garfield Heights City School District, Mayfield City School District, Richmond Heights Local Schools, Strongsville City Schools, Warrensville Heights City Schools*
Erie County – (Average 28.92% increase in property appraisals): Margaretta Regional School District, Firelands Regional School District, EHOVE Joint Vocational School District*, Bellevue City School District*
Huron County – (Average 27.51% increase in property assessment): Seneca East Regional School District, Norwalk City School District, Bellevue City School District*
Lake County – (28.97% average property assessed value increase): Lake County School Financing District (Madison, Painesville City, Perry, Riverside)
Lorain County – (Average 31.13% increase in property appraisals): Avon Local Schools, Avon Lake City Schools, Columbia Local Schools, Lorain City Schools, Strongsville City Schools*
Portage County – (Average 32.85% increase in property appraisals): Aurora City School District, Ravenna School District, Stow Munroe Falls City Schools*, Streetsboro City Schools, Tallmadge City School District*, Mogador Regional School District*, Springfield Regional School District*
Stark County – (Average 33.84% increase in real estate assessment): Fairless Regional School District, Marlington Regional Schools
* Some school districts overlap multiple counties and may have a majority of their students in counties that have not completed their real estate reassessment in 2024.
Dr. Warren Morgan, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, said he would like to levy the levy now rather than later because the levy would be less burdensome given that it uses 2023 home prices. They argue that it is better to vote.
“We need resources to continue this work,” Morgan said. “If you wait to collect and do it later, a new reassessment tax rate will apply and it will be even higher.”
Other districts are considering ways to ease the burden.
Local schools in Richmond Heights are facing the same uphill battle over funding for a new elementary school.
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Dr Marnisha Brown presents plans for a new elementary school.
But after a 14.77 million levy increase failed this spring, the district came up with a new idea: reducing the levy for people on fixed incomes.
In other words, it would only require a 3.24 million property tax increase, along with a 1.25% earned income tax increase.
Richmond Heights Regional Schools Superintendent Dr. Marnisha Brown told News 5 she is concerned about how the reevaluated voting system will be received by voters, but believes the issue is of paramount importance. spoke.
“The facility itself is aging,” Brown said. “To understand what this city has to offer, we have to come together on one agreement, on one page. If we don’t invest in our schools, we’re not investing in our city. No.”
Oberlin City Schools withdraws ballots for new middle school. But it’s not for the reason you think.
In the 100-year-old Langston Middle School library, Oberlin City Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hall can joke about the dilapidated building.
“I think schools have changed a little bit in 100 years,” he laughed.
Dr. Hall and the district were poised to lead a ballot measure for voters this fall to fund construction of a new middle school.
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Oberlin City Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hall is smiling because the district will no longer be putting forward ballot proposals seeking more funding, thanks to additional funding already slated to receive from the property reassessment.
But when the school district calculated how much revenue it could make from real estate reassessments taking place in Loran County, leaders realized the number was high enough, and the district decided to cancel the planned bond issue. was removed from the ballot paper.
“Everyone around us smiled when we realized that there was no need to postpone the bond issue,” he said. “It was a relief for all of us, a real relief.”
If voters had approved the measure, taxpayers would have seen their taxes increase by $147 for every $100,000 of assessed property value.
Instead, the district confirmed to News 5 that much of the funding for the middle school will come from a new reassessment and money from the Nexus pipeline that runs through the district.
Dr. Hall expects the new middle school to be completed and operational by fall 2027.
Voting day for other school district ballot measures is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter for News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard or on Facebook Clay LePard News 5.
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