Barberton voters face $4.73 million tax proposal amid fiscal emergency

Barberton residents will vote Tuesday on a proposal to generate $4.73 million annually for the city school district. The district is currently under fiscal emergency, the most severe level of state oversight, and warns that failure to approve the measure will force deeper cuts to programs and staffing.

The ballot measure, known as Issue 5, establishes a 1% earned income tax for a five-year period. District officials state the levy would apply to wages, salaries, tips, and self-employment earnings. Income from Social Security, pensions, 401(k) accounts, IRAs, investments, dividends, interest, and unemployment benefits would be exempt. A retiree relying solely on those exempt sources would not pay the new tax.

The proposal follows the rejection of an 11-mill property tax levy in May. Following that defeat, the district implemented approximately $7 million in budget cuts. These reductions included the elimination of roughly 70 teacher and teacher aide positions. Despite these measures, the district failed to balance its budget, prompting the Ohio Auditor to place Barberton City Schools in fiscal emergency in September.

Superintendent Jason Ondrus cited several factors for the financial strain, including shifts in state funding, rising health care costs, inaccurate expense assumptions, and the expiration of federal pandemic-era aid. "I think COVID funding across the state provided a false sense of revenue for districts," Ondrus said. The state requires the district to operate with a balanced budget while under oversight, a goal district officials say requires both spending reductions and new local revenue.

Local residents hold differing views on the proposal. Steve Despot, a Barberton resident, opposes the levy due to rising household expenses. "It's gonna cost me about $55 a month. I would be on the hook to fix their mistake, and I just don't think that's right," Despot said. Gail Klusty, whose son and grandson attended local schools, supports the measure. "We really need to push this levy through for the kids," Klusty said.

If the levy fails, the district plans to eliminate middle and high school athletics and extracurricular activities. Preschool programs would also be removed. Career technical education programs would be eliminated or consolidated, and elective classes such as art and music would be reduced. Student transportation would drop to state minimums, eliminating high school busing and restricting K-8 transportation to students living more than two miles from their assigned school. Ondrus stated that final decisions on these cuts will be made in coordination with the state commission overseeing the district.