Parma, Garfield Heights voters pass school taxes, but Cuyahoga County voters defeat all other school issues | cleveland.com

Parma, Garfield Heights voters pass school taxes, but Cuyahoga County voters defeat all other school issues | cleveland.com

Voters in Parma and Garfield Heights approved school taxes in Tuesday's Primary Election, according to final results.

Parma voters passed the tax on the eighth try by the school district.

A total of 14,407 voters said "yes" to Parma schools, while 14,165 said "no."

The renewal tax passed in Garfield Heights by about 78 votes, but a new tax was handily defeated.

The school tax renewal in Garfield won by only 78 votes -- although exactly 5,100 ballots had been cast.

That's a margin of victory of less than 2 percent, but not close enough to force an automatic recount, elections officials said.

In Parma, meanwhile, only 242 votes separated winning from losing in a race where more than 28,000 ballots were cast.

In every other Cuyahoga school district, voters defeated tax issues.

In Lake County, however, school tax issues in both Kirtland and Painesville Riverside were approved. More than 61 percent of voters in Kirtland approved a tax renewal.

Elsewhere in Cuyahoga: In Brecksville-Broadview Heights, with more than 8,700 votes cast, 4,531 voters said "No" to the tax, while 4,245 said "Yes."

The Euclid, Garfield Heights and Strongsville schools were showing a heavy no vote for their property tax hikes, as was the case in Maple Heights, which is seeking an income tax.

Among the districts on the ballot Tuesday:

• About seven in 10 are seeking extra money as opposed to a renewal.

• And in many cases, voters already have said 'no' before -- as many as seven times.

But many of the districts on the ballot, including Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Highland, Hudson, Nordonia, Parma, Revere and Strongsville, also found out only recently that Ohio Gov. John Kasich's budget proposal would give them far less money than they expected from the state over the next couple years.

School tax calculator

Find out how much the proposed school levies would cost you, based on the value of your house.

Web sites for 2011 Election Returns

• Cuyahoga Results
• Geauga Results
• Lake Results
• Lorain Results
• Medina Results
• Portage Results
• Summit Results

Under Kasich's budget, for example, the Brecksville district would take a $1 million hit in basic state funding next school year, a 22 percent drop. In addition, it will lose $936,000 a year in reimbursements for the tangible personal property tax and $589,000 year in reimbursements for a utility tax.

Revere Schools, on the other hand, would take a $1.1 million hit in basic state funding under the governor's budget -- giving it 55 percent less than now. In addition, Revere will lose $602,000 a year from the tangible personal property tax reimbursement and $450,000 year from the utility tax reimbursement.

While most districts on the ballot are asking for property tax hikes, renewals are being sought by Avon, Avon Lake, Kirtland, Lorain, Perry and Riverside, among others.

Reporter Edith Starzyk contributed to this story.