Issue 9 FAQs

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 at the bottom of the page.

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.

Why do Strongsville schools rely so much on local taxes?

Because the state covers less of the bill here than in most of Ohio. Ohio’s school funding formula is built around a district’s property wealth, and Strongsville’s property base is strong enough that the formula sends comparatively little state money. Local taxpayers make up the difference.

That leaves the district leaning harder on local levies than most, while its total revenue per pupil, $16,694, is below the $18,352 statewide figure and well below the $20,120 median of nearby five-star districts (comparison below). And because of House Bill 920, a voted levy can’t grow with rising home values (explained above). The only way to keep pace with costs is to go back to voters.

Percentages and per-pupil figures are from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce FY2025 District Profile Report, the same source as the comparison below. The “other” share is federal and other revenue.

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.

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.

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.

The full ballot history is in what’s on the ballot, and how we got here, and the cost of each request is charted under what a mill actually costs. Here is what the forecast can’t fix, in the district’s own numbers for the two voted operating levies at the center of Issue 9:

• The 2019 levy is gone. Voters declined to renew it in November 2023 and again in March 2024. It was still collected through December 2024, so those years looked comfortable. Then collection stopped, and about $9.7 million a year disappeared.
• The 2002 levy is next. It brings in about $8.3 million a year. If Issue 9 fails, it is still collected through December 2027, so 2027 looks survivable, and then it expires. From 2028 these two voted operating levies would produce nothing.
• If Issue 9 passes, they produce about $15.8 million a year, still $2.2 million below the 2024 level. That matches the district’s own statement that Issue 9 “reduces revenue collected by $2.2 million, representing a lower tax rate in 2027 than in 2024.”

What this covers and what it doesn’t. These are the two voted operating levies, not the district’s whole budget, which also includes state funding, inside millage, bond levies and other sources and runs about $102.8 million for fiscal 2027. Levy amounts are the district’s own approximate annual figures, held flat across years, which is what House Bill 920 actually does. The May 2026 issue was a facilities bond, so it adds nothing to operating revenue.

“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 why the forecast can’t replace a failed levy.)

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.

What is the district’s cash balance, and where is it headed?

The district’s general fund is the account that pays for teachers, buses and programs. Its balance rose while the 2019 levy was collecting, then began falling once spending outran revenue. These are the district’s own figures from “The Financial Story.”

What the district projects next (general fund cash at the end of each fiscal year):

Without Issue 9, the district projects its cash is gone by FY2029 and about $27.5 million below zero by FY2030. With it, cash stays positive, at $25.5 million in FY2030. Even then the balance is falling, which is why the district says Issue 9 does not close the whole gap on its own.

Figures are the district’s projections, not guarantees. Two district documents give different amounts for the capital-fund money returning to operations ($21.9M here, $18.4M in the reserves answer below), so we show each as its source states it. Source: Strongsville City Schools, “The Financial Story.”

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. State data puts personnel at 86.6% of Strongsville’s operating spending, against 78% statewide and 82% for the median nearby 5-star district, so it is somewhat higher than typical, though in every district personnel costs are the large majority because teaching is a people-intensive service. The pay and staffing comparisons above and in the 5-star district comparison are the better test of whether that spending is out of line.

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.

Beyond the star rating

Three results stand out in the state’s 2025–26 data, and each is something a rating can hide:

• Student growth: top 10% in Ohio (51st of 606 districts). Ohio compares how much students learned this year with how much they were expected to learn based on where they started. Strongsville students beat that expectation.
• Gap closing: 78.3% of possible points, 33rd of 606. The state checks whether every student group — by race and ethnicity, family income, English learners and students with disabilities — is meeting math, reading and graduation goals. A district earns 5 stars at 60%.
• Four-year graduation: 98.9%, 7th of 120 Ohio districts with 3,000 or more students (Class of 2025).

Context worth knowing: about 25% of Strongsville students are economically disadvantaged and 5.1% are English learners, compared with medians of 15% and 2.3% among nearby 5-star districts. That usually makes top results harder to reach.

To be fair about it: the strength is growth, gap closing and graduation, not raw scores. Strongsville’s Performance Index (100.1), early literacy rate (78.6%) and college, career and military readiness (68.3%) all sit in the bottom few of the nearby 5-star districts, which is why those components are the ones below 5 stars.

See every rating in detail at Ohio School Report Cards.

How does Strongsville compare with other 5-star districts?

Comparing Strongsville with every nearby city includes districts with weaker results. A tougher test is the group that earned the same 5 stars. Using the state’s own 2025–26 report card data and FY2025 finance data, there are 20 such districts across Cuyahoga, Geauga, Summit, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Portage counties, Strongsville included. It is the largest of the 20.

Issue 9 adds about 3.3 net new mills, which would put Strongsville at roughly 28 to 30 on these measures — near the peer median, not above it. That is an estimate, because it mixes the state’s tax year 2024 figures with the treasurer’s.

Medians are our own calculation from two state files: the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce FY2025 District Profile Report (finance, pay, staffing) and the 2025–26 report card data download (star ratings). Strongsville’s per-pupil spending and revenue in the state report match the treasurer’s figures. Peers: Aurora, Avon Local, Bay Village, Beachwood, Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Chagrin Falls, Chardon, Cuyahoga Heights, Highland Local, Hudson, Kenston, Kirtland, Mayfield, Orange, Revere, Rocky River, Solon, Strongsville, West Geauga and Westlake.

What the same data also shows. Personnel costs (salaries plus benefits) are 86.6% of Strongsville’s operating spending, against 82% for the 5-star median and 78% statewide, so the 85% figure people cite is real and a little higher than typical. Total spending per pupil is about 7.7% above similar districts. Two peers, Highland Local and Avon Local, earn 5 stars on less money per pupil. And teacher pay, while below the 5-star median, is about 10% above the state average. We include these because a comparison that only shows the flattering rows isn’t worth much.

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. Against only the districts that also earn 5 stars, Strongsville has below-median revenue, teacher pay and tax millage.

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).

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

• Look up your address at the bottom 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.