The impact of school district income tax on the frequency of requests for new operational tax levies in rural Ohio school districts.

摘要

The ability to have an alternative method of taxation via the school district income tax gives school boards in Ohio an approach toward remedying financial woes in addition to traditional property tax levies. However, making the determination of whether to select property tax, school district income tax, or a combination of both types of taxes can leave school officials and board members at a loss.;The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the school district income tax on the ability of rural Ohio school districts to maintain financial stability. The researcher investigated rural (as defined by the Ohio Department of Education) school districts in Ohio that have implemented a school district income tax and compared their need to return to the voters for new operational levy support (indicating a lack of financial stability at that point) with those districts who rely solely on property taxation.;The results indicate that rural districts which utilized a combination of both school district income taxes and property taxes were able to stay "off the ballot" significantly longer before returning for new operational tax dollars than those districts which utilized only voted property taxation. It may be that this "balanced portfolio" approach of utilizing both types of taxation helps to provide strengthened economical support to school districts in the long run and, consequently, strengthened community support of local schools.