We are asking the voters of our school district to approve an additional 1.25% income tax for the purposes of funding our operations. 

All district residents who earn income will pay 1.25% more of their federally adjusted gross income to our schools. Social security is “held harmless”; it is not included in this tax increase. 

We have gained 17% enrollment since 2011, the last time we passed a revenue enhancement. We have been deficit spending for four years and will exhaust our reserves by Fiscal Year 2028 (July 31, 2027), necessitating either increased revenue or decreased spending.

Our class sizes are already higher than local peer districts and the state average. Our administrative spending per student is lower than peer districts and the state average. In short, we have already strained our staff to be able to balance our budget and provide excellent programs for our students. 

That’s correct! We have bond debt that will be eliminated this tax year in the amount of 3.1 mills ($325.50 per year for the owner of a $300,000 house).

We will begin to cut staff, which means less support for our students. We pride ourselves as a “destination district,” but will have to make hard choices if we cannot increase our revenue.

In the mid-2000s, the state of Ohio began a pattern of less support to local government entities, including schools. This pattern has allowed them to reduce the state’s income tax but ends in cities and school districts having to ask their residents to make up the difference. Specifically, since 2005, local governments receive $1.88 billion less in state aid than before this trend began. Public education used to gain 48% of its funding from state subsidies; this is down to 37% at this time.  

No, actually, even with an additional 1.25% income tax, Pickerington and Violet Township residents will still pay less than those with the same income and housing values in Hillard, Gahanna, Westerville, and Reynoldsburg. Consider the following slide that we presented at our most recent Town Hall:

It doesn’t. We are funding all-day kindergarten by reallocating resources from other departments. We believe that all-day kindergarten, at no charge, should be a fundamental right of all children. 

The staffing projection only accommodates the enrollment growth that our independent consultant has projected. It does not introduce any additional administrators or programs. It simply maintains class sizes in all areas and increases staffing only proportional to the number of students who join our district in each category (elementary, secondary, special education, etc.).