MAUMEE — Voters in the Maumee City School District will decide on Nov. 3 whether to approve a new 1.25% income tax for the schools, a request the district says it needs to close a budget gap that is growing as spending outpaces revenue. The proposal appears on the Lucas County ballot as Issue 5.
District officials say Maumee is spending more than it takes in and could run out of cash by 2029 without new revenue. The district has already cut about a dozen jobs, and the state has ordered it to prepare a plan for further cuts in case the new tax fails.
As proposed, the 1.25% tax would apply to wages and net self-employment income. Pension income, Social Security and other retirement income would not be taxed, a structure supporters describe as a way to raise money from working residents without adding to the property-tax bills that many Ohio homeowners already feel are too high.
The district estimates the tax would raise nearly $6 million a year for school programs and staffing, against a projected deficit put at about $4 million. That margin is central to the pitch: passing the tax, officials argue, would stabilize the budget instead of leaving the district to cut its way back to balance year after year.
Maumee is not alone in northwest Ohio. The district has entered a precautionary financial state because of its projected deficits, and administrators in neighboring districts including Sylvania, Springfield and Toledo have also received state letters over projected shortfalls. Sylvania voters are likewise being asked to approve a new 1% income tax on Nov. 3, paired with a property-tax reduction.
The squeeze, local leaders say, reflects rising operating costs combined with state and federal funding that has not kept pace. That makes Nov. 3 an unusually consequential election for school budgets across the Toledo area, with several districts effectively asking voters to choose between a new income tax and a round of programmed cuts.
For Maumee families, the stakes are direct. If the tax passes, the district gains a dedicated revenue stream it says will protect programs and staffing. If it fails, the state-ordered planning process means residents should expect the district to put specific reductions on the table — and Maumee would have to decide how to keep operating while its own forecast shows cash running out before the end of the decade. Early voting in Ohio is already underway, and the issue will be settled on Nov. 3.