Pre-election episode, recorded Oct. 27. 127 Ohio school districts have levies on the Nov. 3 ballot, and two listeners wrote in, one from Cincinnati and one from Pickerington. We take both, plus the state policy that put them there. See every Ohio (and Wisconsin, and Indiana) ballot question and district profile on our website.

In this episode:

  • The levy treadmill: HB 920 (1976) freezes what a voted levy raises, the 20-mill floor still applies, and a 2025 package capped inside-millage growth at inflation (HB 335). The state budget also banned replacement and emergency levies.
  • The formula: the Ohio Supreme Court found school funding unconstitutional four times in DeRolph (1997-2002), and no court has supervised it since. Today's formula still prices costs as if it was 2022, and universal EdChoice vouchers draw from the same pot.
  • The odds: new operating levies passed 36.7% of the time from 1994 to 2023 (OEPI). In May 2026, only 12 of 50 new levies passed (why).
  • Cincinnati: Issue 4, a 7-mill levy, is the district's first new operating money in nearly a decade. It comes after the state put CPS in fiscal caution with a projected $44.5M deficit. Plus, how one accounting rule (GASB 101) cut its net position by $118M on paper.
  • Pickerington: a growing district with no new operating money in 15 years. A 1.25% income tax failed in May with 37% yes. Now it's asking for 0.75%, with deeper cuts if that fails (WOSU).

Our take: vote yes, then organize. The levy is the last lever districts have, and the people running it dry are in Columbus.

Further reading: CPS on its levy · Pickerington finances · HB 335 analysis

Music: Carsie Blanton. Art: Soumya Dhulekar. Chip in and join our Discord at budgetcommittee.show. Send us a request.