Issue 9: what it would cost you, and what’s at stake

What will it cost if Issue 9 passes?

The district’s published cost is $234.50 a year for every $100,000 of your home’s county value, or $19.54 a month. For a $300,000 home that’s about $704 a year.

Most of that isn’t new. Issue 9 is 6.7 mills: 3.4 mills continue the operating levy voters approved in 2002, and 3.3 mills are new. The 3.4 continuing mills are money the district already collects, about $8.3 million a year. Here is how the treasurer’s office breaks it down on a tax bill:

So on a $300,000 home, the increase over today’s bill is about $349.65 a year, roughly $29 a month. The other $353.85 already appears on your bill for the 2002 levy.

Ohio’s formula: home value × 35% × mills ÷ 1,000. Want your exact amount? Use the address tool just below.

Figures come from the district treasurer’s levy information. Seniors and others with the homestead exemption pay less, and the address tool subtracts it when county records show it.

What does a “mill” actually cost?

One mill costs $35 a year for every $100,000 your home is worth. That’s the whole conversion — multiply the mills by 35 and you have the yearly cost per $100,000.

Ohio taxes 35% of a home’s value, at a rate of so many dollars per thousand. Those two steps are what make “mills” hard to picture, and they cancel out to a number you can do in your head. Issue 9 is 6.7 mills, so 6.7 × 35 = $234.50 a year per $100,000 — the same figure the district publishes.

Why the renewals are the odd ones. A renewal keeps a charge that is already on your tax bill — it doesn’t add a new one. When the 5.9-mill renewal failed in 2023 and again in 2024, nobody’s bill went up; the levy simply ended and that money stopped reaching the schools. It’s the same reason Issue 9’s cost splits in two: about $117.95 per $100,000 continues a levy you already pay, and about $116.55 is genuinely new.

“Is this permanent? Will it just renew itself?”

No. Issue 9 is a five-year levy. It expires, and it has to come back to voters, who can say no then.

This is worth spelling out because permanence was the specific objection raised against the district’s November 2024 request, which was a continuing levy with no end date. Critics at the time argued for regular reviews every five years and a smaller millage.

Issue 9 is a five-year levy, roughly half of it a renewal of what voters already approved in 2002, asking about $3 million a year less than the request that was rejected in 2024.

Do renters contribute?

Yes — renters pay property taxes too. It just doesn’t arrive as a bill with your name on it.

Property tax is one of a landlord’s fixed costs on a building, the same as insurance and maintenance, and it’s priced into the rent. When property taxes on a rental change, rents generally follow. So the money on this page is money renters in Strongsville are already contributing through what they pay each month.

The same works in the other direction. When a district’s schools decline, what rental property commands declines with it, and so does the condition of the neighborhood around it. Renters have a stake in both outcomes — and a vote that counts exactly as much as any homeowner’s.

Two things worth knowing if you rent here. The sewer district’s income-based discount program covers renters as well as owners, which makes it one of the few items in how residents can save money elsewhere you can use directly. And you register and vote at your rental address like anyone else.

What happens if Issue 9 fails?

Your taxes

Issue 9 adds nothing to your bill. The 2002 levy it would continue is ending, so that part of your bill is expected to go away. That saves about $117.95 a year per $100,000 of home value, or roughly $354 on a $300,000 home.

The schools

If Issue 9 fails, the district says it would collect no new revenue in 2027, keep the $1.8 million in cuts already made, and cut about $15.2 million more by 2027–28, for roughly $20 million in total. It would move to state minimum operating standards. At its September 10, 2026 board meeting, the district listed the cuts it plans:

Music, art and clubs appear in the plan in more than one place. The elementary reductions cut four teachers each from art, music and physical education, and the middle school plan replaces two elective periods with study halls. The district’s presentation also lists the elimination of all after-school and club opportunities K–12, along with evening arts and music performances.

These are the district’s plans and projections. The treasurer’s forecast shows the deficit reaching about $30.5 million by 2030, with savings running out by fiscal year 2029. Issue 9 would give the schools five years of steady operating revenue, though the district notes it won’t close the entire gap on its own. Since 2023 it has put an operating levy or bond on the ballot five times, counting Issue 9.

“Is this a scare tactic?”

It’s a fair question to ask, and the fair way to answer it is to look at districts where the levy actually failed. In these four Ohio districts, the cuts weren’t threats. They happened.

What they have in common is lost revenue, not rejected extras. In some cases voters were being asked to renew money the district was already collecting, and the renewal failed. In the rest, years had gone by with no new revenue while costs kept rising — and because of HB 920, a levy already on the books keeps collecting about the same dollars year after year, so standing still is a cut. Either way the district ends up with fewer real dollars than the year before, and that is what produces reductions this deep.

Strongsville is in the same position. 3.4 of Issue 9’s 6.7 mills continue a levy that is ending, so a no vote doesn’t just withhold new money — it takes away about $8.3 million a year the schools collect today.

To be fair about it: districts sometimes find other money, and Wickliffe restored part of its cuts once a later levy passed. The exact list of reductions is always the school board’s decision, not automatic. But “they’d never really do it” isn’t what happened in these communities.

Do home values go up or down when school levies fail?

They tend to go down. Studies of Ohio home sales find that home values drop after a levy fails.

If you’ve paid off your house, it’s probably the biggest thing you own, and it’s what you’ll sell or pass on someday. Buyers pay more to live in a district with strong schools, so good schools help hold up your home’s value even if no one in your house attends them.

What happens to school ratings when levies fail?

Ohio’s star rating is built mostly from test scores, student progress and graduation rates — the things researchers measure. Studies of districts that lost levy votes find the same pattern: spending falls, teachers leave, and student results slip.

“Parents should just pay for sports.”

They already do, in part. Strongsville charges athletic participation fees, set by the board each year.

The larger issue is that sports are a small slice of what’s planned. The reduction list also includes all high school busing, about 20 fewer high school teachers, four fewer teachers each in art, music and physical education at every elementary building, gifted services, 13 intervention specialists, and elementary classes of 30 or more. Pay-to-play doesn’t reach any of that. (The full list is under “What happens if Issue 9 fails?”.)

Why didn’t they budget for this?

It’s the fairest version of the skeptic’s question, and the honest answer is that they did forecast it — Ohio law requires every district to file a five-year financial forecast with the state twice a year, every October and every May, and Strongsville’s has shown this gap coming for years. What the forecasts can’t do is replace money voters decline to renew.

Two things explain why the forecast alone couldn’t fix it: the levy the district relied on expired after voters declined to renew it (why renewing alone was tried and failed), and a voted levy never grows with costs (how HB 920 works). The awards below show the district’s budgeting is not the problem.

“They should just learn to budget.”

They have, and outside groups have checked. Strongsville City Schools has won these financial awards, most of them repeatedly:

• Ohio Auditor of State Award with Distinction, six years in a row (most recently June 2026). It requires a clean audit and financial reports filed on time, and the Auditor says only about 4% of entities qualify.
• ASBO Meritorious Budget Award, ninth straight year (as of March 2025). A national panel of school finance officials reviews the district’s budget document against published criteria.
• ASBO and GFOA certificates for excellence in financial reporting, listed by the district at 8 and 7 consecutive years.
• A Moody’s bond rating of Aa1, per the district treasurer, which keeps borrowing costs down for taxpayers.
• The second-lowest residential effective tax rate among Cuyahoga County school districts, per the district (February 2026).

What the awards can’t do is change how the money arrives. House Bill 920 freezes what a voted levy collects while costs keep rising, and a levy that expires takes its revenue with it. That is the gap Issue 9 is meant to fill. (More on how HB 920 works.)

Streak counts are as the district publishes them; some of its own pages show different totals for the same award, so we use the most recent. Awards recognize how the district reports and presents its finances. They don’t say whether a levy is needed, and we don’t claim they do. Sources: Auditor of State award, June 2026, district Financial Fast Facts, district Treasurer page, ASBO Meritorious Budget Award.

“Why not just renew the existing levy?”

That was tried, twice. The district put renewal-only levies on the ballot in November 2023 and again in March 2024, with no new money attached. Both failed, and the levy expired, taking about $9.7 million a year with it.

There’s also a structural reason a renewal by itself doesn’t solve the problem. Because of HB 920, a renewal keeps collecting roughly the same number of dollars every year no matter what happens to prices or home values. Costs don’t work that way. So a renewal alone doesn’t close a gap that grows — it postpones the same conversation. (More on how HB 920 works.)

“Didn’t we just vote on this in May?”

No — that was a different kind of question entirely.

May 2026 was a facilities bond: $147.65 million, 3.43 mills over 36 years, to build three new K–5 schools. Bonds pay for buildings.

Issue 9 is an operating levy: 6.7 mills over five years, paying day-to-day costs like teachers, programs and buses.

Ohio law keeps the two strictly separate. Bond money cannot be spent on salaries, and operating money cannot build a school. A no vote in May was a vote about buildings. Issue 9 is about whether the schools keep operating the way they do today.

“Isn’t Ohio getting rid of property taxes anyway?”

Not on this ballot. A group campaigned to put a constitutional amendment abolishing Ohio property taxes in front of voters this November, but it fell short of the roughly 413,000 valid signatures required and did not submit before the July 2026 deadline. Organizers have said they’ll aim for 2027.

Whatever happens with that effort later, it isn’t on the November 3 ballot and it won’t change anyone’s bill in 2027. And because Issue 9 runs five years rather than indefinitely, voting for it doesn’t foreclose voting for tax reform down the road.

“Don’t they have millions sitting in reserves?”

The district does hold real money, and the roughly $73 million figure people cite is real and current — it just isn’t one pile, and most of it cannot legally run a classroom.

• About $37.7 million general fund — the account that actually pays teachers, buses and programs
• $24.7 million capital, of which $18.4 million is slated to transfer to operations
• $6.5 million bond retirement — legally committed to paying down debt
• $4.2 million restricted — earmarked by law or by grant

The number that matters for keeping the lights on is the general fund, and it is falling. The district’s own five-year forecast puts it at $46.0 million in fiscal 2023, peaking at $48.1 million in fiscal 2025, and about $38 million now — heading toward a deficit by fiscal 2029 without new revenue.

Part of that decline was a deliberate choice worth knowing about: in 2023 the board moved $25 million out of the general fund into a capital projects fund for building needs. The rest is the levy that expired in 2024, worth about $9.7 million a year, roughly 75 more general-fund staff positions tied to enrollment and student support, and healthcare costs.

So “just use the savings” isn’t an alternative to the levy. It’s what the district is already doing, and it’s why the balance is going down.

“They just put in new turf fields while crying poverty.”

The turf replacements at the high school and the middle school were paid for by the community — private citizens, local businesses and organizations — not out of the money that runs the schools.

The largest of those gifts are a matter of public record. Serpentini Chevrolet donated $210,000 in 2020 toward field turf replacement and facility work at the middle and high schools, which is why the middle school field is called Serpentini Field, after giving more than $400,000 in 2016 for the high school turf project. The recent replacements were approved by the board through donor agreements with Serpentini and Southwest General, and the Pat Catan Stadium bleacher wrap was approved as a donation as well.

The fields also weren’t an upgrade anyone went looking for. The turf being replaced had about 11 years of use on it, which is roughly the expected lifespan for this kind of field.

One part of the project was not donated, and it’s worth stating plainly. When a leak was discovered beneath the middle school field, the soil had to be stabilized before new turf could be laid. The board approved about $157,000 for that work from the district’s existing Permanent Improvement line item. No money was moved out of another fund to cover it, and nothing came out of the operating budget.

That distinction is the thing worth understanding about school budgets generally. Permanent improvement money is set aside for capital work — buildings, grounds and equipment meant to last — and can’t be spent on salaries, busing or classroom programs. A donation earmarked for a field can’t be redirected to pay a teacher either. It’s the same reason the bond retirement and restricted funds above can’t simply be spent on classrooms.

A replaced field and an operating gap can both be true at once, and in this case they are.

How do school salaries compare with nearby districts?

A common claim is that Strongsville’s district salaries are out of line. Ohio’s public payroll disclosures, together with each district’s own enrollment figures, tell a more specific story: Strongsville sits in the middle of its closest neighbors, not above them.

“Avg. staff pay” covers every employee on each district’s 2024 payroll — teachers, aides, custodians, bus drivers and administrators, not just classroom teachers — so it reads lower than a teacher-only figure would. “Highest paid” is each district’s top publicly reported 2024 salary, in nearly every case the superintendent. Schools and enrollment are each district’s own reported counts, most recent available.

Strongsville’s highest-paid employee, at $161,692, earns less than the equivalent position in three of the four neighboring districts — Berea and North Royalton both pay theirs over $190,000. Strongsville runs 8 school buildings for 5,757 students, and its staffing relative to enrollment is in the same range as Brunswick, Berea and Olmsted Falls. North Royalton’s smaller staff reflects a more consolidated district — one elementary building serves the entire district, instead of Strongsville’s five — not a different approach to spending.

The claim that about 85% of the district’s budget is salaries and benefits is accurate — and it’s typical. Personnel costs make up the large majority of every school district’s operating budget, here and everywhere else, because teaching is a people-intensive service.

How do Strongsville property taxes compare with nearby cities?

Strongsville homeowners pay about 1.64% of their home’s value each year in total property taxes, which includes schools, city, county and library. That’s tied with Westlake for the lowest of the nearby cities below. With Issue 9 it would be about 1.76% to 1.87%.

Tax rates are for homes in each city’s main taxing district, from the Cuyahoga County Treasurer. They include every local levy and state credits. The yearly tax column applies each rate to the same home value. School ratings are overall stars from the Ohio School Report Card — Strongsville’s is the 2025–26 card, released September 15, 2026; the other cities show their 2024–25 card, the most recent checked for this table as of that date. Brecksville and Broadview Heights share one district, and Middleburg Heights is part of the Berea district. A dash means we haven’t added that rating yet.

How good are Strongsville schools?

On Ohio’s newest report card, released September 15, 2026, Strongsville City Schools earned 5 out of 5 stars overall — “significantly exceeds state standards.” That’s up from 4.5 stars the year before, and five of the six rated components below hit the top mark.

Early Literacy and College/Career/Workforce/Military Readiness are the two components below 5 stars — a statewide dip in early literacy ratings was widely reported with this release, so Strongsville’s 4 stars there tracks a broader trend. Among the nearby districts in the table above, Brecksville-Broadview Heights and Solon earned 5 stars, Westlake and North Royalton 4.5, Parma 4, and North Olmsted 3.5 — all on their 2024–25 cards, the most recent checked for this page as of September 15, 2026.

See every rating in detail at Ohio School Report Cards.

Are we getting what we pay for?

Here is what Strongsville pays and gets, side by side:

With Issue 9, Strongsville’s rate would be about the same as Brecksville’s (1.86%) and Parma’s (1.77%), above Westlake and Middleburg Heights, and below North Royalton, Broadview Heights, Solon, Berea, Olmsted Falls and North Olmsted.

What research says about school spending: A study of operating levy elections in seven states found that $1,000 more per student raised test scores and graduation rates. Those gains came mostly from districts that spent less than the median per student.

Abbott, Kogan, Lavertu & Peskowitz, Journal of Public Economics (2020)

The district says its residential school tax rate is the second-lowest in Cuyahoga County, and it has won state and national budgeting awards (see the list).

“I don’t have kids in the schools. Why should I pay?”

A lot of Strongsville homeowners are in exactly that position. Roughly a third of adults here are 65 or older, and many haven’t had a child in a classroom for decades.

The honest answer isn’t really about other people’s children. It’s that your house is probably the largest thing you own, and what it’s worth depends partly on the district it sits in. Buyers pay more for homes in strong school districts, and Ohio research finds home values fall in districts that fail school levies — about $7,600 on average the year after. (The studies are under “Do home values go up or down when school levies fail?”.)

On a $300,000 home, Issue 9 adds about $349 a year. That average value drop is worth roughly 22 years of what the levy costs.

You may never set foot in the buildings. You’re still in the market they affect.

Why vote yes on Issue 9?

Here’s the case for Issue 9:

• It keeps what families and home buyers look for. Without it, the district plans about $20 million in total cuts, including no middle or high school sports, no high school busing, and elementary classes of 30 or more.
• It helps protect home values. Ohio research links failed school levies to lower home prices (see how home values respond to levy results).
• Strongsville taxes stay among the lowest nearby. Even with Issue 9, our rate would be about 1.76% to 1.87%, below North Royalton, Solon, Berea and Olmsted Falls.
• About half of it isn’t new. 3.4 of the 6.7 mills continue a levy Strongsville voters first approved in 2002. The district says the combined levy “reduces revenue collected by $2.2 million, representing a lower tax rate in 2027 than in 2024.”
• Voters stay in control. It’s a five-year levy, so it comes back to the ballot before it can continue.

If you’re on a fixed income

• Use the address tool near the top of this page for your exact numbers. For a $300,000 home, the new part of Issue 9 is about $29 a month.
• If you’re 65 or older, or permanently disabled, and your Ohio income was $41,000 or less in 2025, you may qualify for the homestead exemption, which lowers your property taxes by more than Issue 9 would add. You apply through the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer, and the deadline is December 31. See how residents can save money elsewhere.

How residents can save money elsewhere

Issue 9 isn’t the only line on your bill you can change. These Ohio and Cuyahoga County programs are open right now, and a lot of Strongsville homeowners who qualify for the biggest one have simply never applied.

Already behind on taxes? The Treasurer has payment plans that stop the penalties and head off foreclosure — call 216-443-7420, option 1. Dialing 2-1-1 also gets you a referral for free nonprofit budget counseling, and the county’s Division of Senior and Adult Services can be reached at 216-420-6700.

More ways to save this fall and winter

Your tax bill isn’t the only place to find relief. These programs cover food, getting around, health costs and winter prep, and most of them are open to more people than use them. Hours, prices and eligibility change, so call before you make a trip.

Food

Getting around and gas

Health costs

Phone, discounts and everyday savings

Getting ready for winter

Not sure where to start? Dial 2-1-1, or call the county’s Division of Senior and Adult Services at 216-420-6700 and ask for a benefits check-up. BenefitsCheckUp.org also screens for many of these programs in one sitting.

“Who made this page, and who paid for it?”

The Strongsville Trailhead — a free weekly local newsletter run by a Strongsville resident. Nobody was paid to build this page, no organization or campaign funded it, and the school district had no involvement in it and hasn’t reviewed it.

We’re voting yes, and the page says so at the top rather than pretending to be neutral about it.

We’ve also deliberately left in the things that complicate that case: the district’s own statement that Issue 9 won’t close the whole gap, the school rating that went back up after the last levy failed, the $25 million the board moved out of the general fund, and the fact that the cut list is a board decision rather than a law of physics. A page that only tells you the convenient half isn’t worth reading.

If you find an error, reply to any Trailhead email and we’ll fix it.

“How do I check any of this myself?”

Four documents cover nearly everything on this page:

• The district’s five-year financial forecast, filed with the state every October and May — the source for cash balances and projections.
• The board’s September 10, 2026 presentation, which is where the specific cut list comes from. Worth knowing: the district’s public levy page is much vaguer than the slides, and the line-item detail exists only in the presentation.
• The treasurer’s levy information, for the per-$100,000 cost figures.
• The Ohio School Report Card for Strongsville, district 044842.

Everything else on this page links to its source in where these facts come from. If a number here doesn’t match one of those documents, the number here is wrong, and we want to know about it.