Income tax defeated; Amherst Schools will seek new money again in November

Voters on Tuesday rejected an income tax that would have helped fund Amherst Schools operations. It was the second time in a year that voters rejected such a request. The district had reduced size of the tax, and while the margin was narrower, the end result was the same. Voters defeated Issue 1, a 0.75 percent income tax to fund Amherst Schools, by3,560 votes against to 2,992 votes for, or 54.33 percent to 45.67 percent, according to unofficial election returns from the Lorain County Board of Elections. Superintendent Mike Molnar said that as the district continues to face rising costs and falling revenue, it would seek to place some form of new funding on the ballot again in November. The failure comes on the heels of the district eliminating 48 jobs as part of a $13.2 million budget reduction plan. Cuts were required because the district was facing an estimated $8.5 million budget deficit by the 2027-28 school year, and because voters had overwhelmingly rejected a 1.5 percent income tax to fund the district in November. The previous issue was rejected by nearly two-thirds of voters, and although cutting the ask in half appeared to have lessened the opposition, it still was not enough to pass Issue 1. "Obviously I am disappointed that the issue didn't pass," Molnar said. "But I am grateful for all of our supporters who voted to support public education, our students and our staff. Obviously, it is a difficult environment right now with taxes in Ohio, specifically in our area, and I understand the difficulties our families are facing. We will assess the board, the treasurer and myself, and make some decisions, but probably (we will put) something on the November ballot." Even as taxpayers are paying more in property taxes across Lorain County and the state, districts like Amherst are left with falling revenue as cuts in state funding have outpaced new income from recent property tax reappraisals, he said. "Our budget from the state is fixed for this coming year, we are not going to get any relief or help because that was set last summer," Molnar said. "No help is coming from the state, so our only option, again, is to ask our local community to help support us where the state is failing us. I think that is all we can do, is go back and ask again. … We are in the same situation as families. Our costs are going up and revenue is not coming in like it should, so our job is to provide the best education we can for our kids, and we will continue to do that." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.