28,080 / 47.65% Yes votes ...... 30,848 / 52.35% No votes

See Also: Index of all Issues

The Board and Administration have now unanimously agreed to ask voters for a "strengthened" operating levy of 6.5 mills in the March Primary election. If passed, this levy would raise $38.8 million annually, and collection of the monies would begin in 2001. The 6.5 mill levy would cost the owner of a $75,000 home an additional $149 each year.

The Board has asked for two mills more than the levy that was defeated in November because the money is necessary to restore the $180 per pupil allocation to each school in the district ($10 million), and to enhance elementary reading and mathematics instruction throughout the district. The extra millage will be focused on kindergarten through third grade reading and math programs, including reduced class size, to ensure that students have attained vital skills in these areas when they enter fourth grade. Additionally, some of the millage
- 0.5 mills ($2.5 million) - will be used for building maintenance.

There will also be another Cincinnati Public Schools levy request on the March 7 Primary ballot. Two existing 5-year Emergency Current Expense Levies are going to expire within a year; and the Board has placed them on the March 7 ballot as a single renewal levy of 10.9 mills. The millage would provide "funds for current operating expenses in order to provide for the emergency requirements of [the] school district." (Resolution adopted by Board of Education on December 17, 1999) If passed by the voters, the 10.9 mills would raise $65.1 million per year for a period of five (5) years. Collection of this renewal tax would begin in calendar year 2001. Since it is a renewal, however, there would be no increase in taxes to property owners.

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