RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The superintendent of Richmond Heights Local Schools is clearing up misinformation she says is circulating about the district’s combination property and earned income tax levy on the November ballot.
"There's some misinformation about the income tax, that we're going to come after folks' tax refunds," Dr. Marnisha Brown explained. "That's nothing that a school district can do, so that is not true."
Brown says the district is getting creative to generate funds for the school system after a previous ballot measure failed earlier this year in March.
Instead of a 14.77-millage levy that would have provided operating funds for the district and money to build a new elementary school and renovate their athletic field, Richmond Heights is now making a two-component ask.
The first portion is a 3.24-millage levy that would cost taxpayers $113.40 per year for every $100,000 of their home value. The second component is a 1.25% earned income tax levy.
Brown says the district came up with the updated ballot measure after holding three community meetings with residents following the failure of the March levy.
"Our seniors were very vocal that their disposable income just would not satisfy a 14.77-mill levy," she added, "so we listened to them,."
She says residents also want to make sure everyone is paying their fair share, especially those who are utilizing the school system. Addressing the Belle Oaks Marketplace development currently under construction in Richmond Heights, Brown says if the November measure passes, the district would be able to collect earned income taxes from residents living in the nearly 800 apartments in that area.
The district has literature explaining that items like pensions, IRA distributions, dividends, capital gains, social security benefits, disability, survivor benefits, and child support are not taxed, which protects residents on fixed incomes from paying the earned income tax.
The combined levies would generate $1.4 million annually for operating the district and approximately $30 million for the construction of a new elementary school. Brown says Richmond Heights' youngest students are learning in a building that is dilapidated.
"If we have too hard of a rain, the ceiling is coming down on them," Brown said. "We've had to close because pipes have burst and destroyed areas in the school, so that really takes a toll on not just the mindset of the students, but the teachers."
According to a district fact sheet, the last ballot issue to pass was in 2017, which provided funding to build a new upper school to house seventh through 12th grade students.