Indian Hill, Winton Woods, Lebanon school votes on May 4 ballot

On Apr 21, 2021

The grand opening of the Winton Woods North Campus in Forest Park was held Monday, March 8, 2021. The building is for grades 7-12. In 2016, a levy was passed to build two new campuses, including a K-6 campus in Greenhills. Winton Wood City Schools is a New Tech Network district focused on project-based learning.

Public schools in Ohio rely on federal, state and local funds, including locally levied property taxes, to support the students in their communities. This spring, voters in nine Cincinnati area school districts will determine the approval of tax levies or bond issues.

Here are school tax levies and bond issues voters in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties should expect to see on the May 4 ballot, listed alphabetically.

Additional information about the May 4 election, including polling locations and times, can be found here or on your county’s board of elections website.

Bellbrook-Sugarcreek School District

The Warren County school district will have a seven-year tax levy on the May 4 ballot in the sum of $3.2 million per year, according to the Board of Elections.

The district’s website says the levy will help fund staffing, utilities, transportation and supplies. Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Schools cut 11% of its staff since 2018, which has increased class sizes and eliminated some special programs.

If the levy passes, the school district says it will bring back a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program for K-5 students, 31 supplemental positions for extracurricular activities and two librarian positions.

Bethel-Tate Local School District

Bethel-Tate Schools hopes to increase its five-year emergency levy this spring. The operating levy originally passed in 2016 and is set to expire this year, according to the district’s website.

The district says the levy will cost homeowners an estimated $18.55 per year per $100,000 of value. The levy will help maintain current educational programs and class sizes, high school buses, fine arts programs, gifted classes and extracurricular activities.

College Corner Local School District

Union County College Corner Joint School District serves students in two Indiana counties and two Ohio counties, including Butler County.

The district has a five-year tax levy renewal on the ballot this spring to help with improvements, renovations and additions to the district’s current school facilities, according to Butler County’s Board of Elections.

Indian Hill Exempted Village School District

Indian Hill has a combined five-year operating levy and 30-year bond issue on the May 4 ballot.

According to the district’s website, the bond issue would help replace Indian Hill Middle School, Indian Hill Elementary School’s “sawtooth” area and provide updates to districtwide mechanical equipment and security.

“We have listened to our stakeholders the past two years during a very public process, and we are confident that the time to act is now,” Board of Education president Nancy Aichholz said in a December news release. “As a District, we face significant operational and capital needs that this combined issue will fund, therefore continuing to provide a consistently excellent academic environment for future generations of our students.”

The estimated combined cost is approximately $190 per year per $100,000 of home value, according to the Hamilton County Auditor’s website.

Lebanon City School District

Lebanon City Schools is hoping to avoid an operating deficit with the passage of a $3 million tax levy this spring.

The five-year renewal levy was originally passed in 2011 and has been renewed once since then, interim superintendent Robert Buskirk said.

Preble Shawnee Local Schools District

The Preble County school district, which also serves families living in Butler County, is asking for a five-year additional income tax levy.

According to the district’s website, the levy will be used for educational programming, salaries, benefits, materials, technology and other permanent improvements. There are no new buildings or renovations tied to the levy.

Springboro Community City School District

The Springboro Schools’ permanent improvement levy would begin collection on Jan. 1, 2022, in line with the drop of the district’s high school bond issue of the same amount. District officials say there will be a net-zero change in residents’ property taxes.

The levy would be used to enhance safety and security measures, maintenance of school buildings and facilities, provide new HVACs and windows and purchase essentials like buses, textbooks and technology upgrades.

Winton Woods City Schools

A November 2016 levy helped fund Winton Woods’ new K-6 South Campus and 7-12 North Campus, together worth $107 million. North Campus just opened to students after spring break.

More: ‘Pictures don’t do the building any justice.’ Winton Woods students’ first day at new campus

This year, the school district will have an operating levy on the May 4 ballot to support the expansion of the Preschool Village, according to the Winton Woods website. The levy will also help support enhanced school safety measures, including additional resource officers, and enrollment efforts.

If approved, this would be Winton Woods’ first operational levy increase since 2009, the website says.