GLOUSTER, Ohio — At a special meeting on July 21, the Trimble District Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution that paves the way for the district to place a 1% earned income tax levy on the November general election ballot.
The resolution acknowledged Athens County Auditor Jill Davidson’s estimate that such a tax would raise $655,000 each year for five years, and the need for a levy to eliminate the district’s estimated $3 million budget deficit.
Last night, the board met to discuss a resolution that would begin the process of getting the proposed income tax before voters. The board must first pass a resolution of necessity and then a resolution to proceed in order for the proposed income tax to go on the ballot.
If passed, the earned income tax would generate the equivalent of a 10-mill property tax, according to district financial consultant Robert Hancock. The levy will be on taxable income only, meaning it will exclude income from Social Security and other nonwage payments.
None of the public who spoke at the meeting, nor the board members, wanted to tax property or general income.
“I would prefer not to do a property tax because I don’t think that’s fair,” said Theresa Stanley, wife of board member John Standley. “I don’t think an income tax that would affect people who are retired is fair.”
Hancock, with whom the district is consulting on its deficit, seconded that thought.
“The retirees just don’t have the extra income to do it,” Hancock said.
Hancock said a general income tax, instead of an earned income tax, would’ve given the district about $100,000 more per year.
Interim Superintendent Lindy Douglas said 1.5% earned income tax would generate $1 million and 2% would generate $1,338,000.
“I don’t think you’re going to get [residents] to vote for more than 1%,” Theresa Standley said.
Hancock said he would send the resolution to his secretarial staff in Cleveland, who will complete the paperwork and get Treasurer Ashley Miller’s signature electronically.
When asked what would happen if the levy fails, Hancock said, “[We’ll] cross that bridge when we get to it.” He said the levy “gives the community the opportunity to increase the local revenue share.”
The earned income tax proposal comes after the recent resignation of Superintendent and a board member (who’s since been replaced by Susan Shafer), and dozens of layoffs amid its state-declared fiscal emergency.
The fiscal emergency is largely due to overexpenditure of federal COVID relief grants to schools.
“Over the last few months, I have not seen anything that would indicate nefarious fraud,” Hancock said. “What I have seen is poor decision-making.”
Interim superintendent Douglas said the board can prevent future mismanagement by “paying very close attention to the five-year forecast, asking questions and just taking your time before you sign off on anything — really research it.”
When an audience member said that Hurd’s administration should be held responsible for allowing the financial situation to get this bad, Douglas said it’s more important to look forward than to look back.
“We’ll let the commission handle what has happened in the past, but we as a community have to focus on where we’re at now and how we’re going to move forward,” Douglas said.
On average, it takes school districts 40 months to recover from a fiscal emergency, Hancock said.
Renae Hefty is a junior at Ohio University. Hefty is a summer 2025 intern at Athens County Independent, with support from the Nonprofit Newsroom Internship Program created by the Scripps Howard Fund and the Institute for Nonprofit News.
Update: This story has been updated since initial publication to properly reflect the details of the proposed levy.
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