CPS seeks massive tax hike during recession

Clueless, liberal and wasteful School Board pushes huge tax hike

Hoping to fly under the radar with a quiet campaign, Cincinnati Public Schools has placed on the ballot a strange levy and a huge one.

The 7.95 mill levy will cost the owner of a $200,000 home about $500 per year in increased taxes (you read that right!). That homeowner already pays more than $2,600 per year just for the public school portion of his tax bill. COAST is not sure of the term of this levy -- as of press time we are still checking.

The strange part of the levy is what the money goes towards. The levy is known as a "Permanent Improvement Levy," and will generate annually an additional $49.5 million for the district, exclusively for technology, software, textbooks and other improvements with a life of at least five years. That's right, nearly $50 million annually that does not go to either salaries or buildings!

Further, with property values declining in the coming triennial (starting next year), tax rates on the typical home will automatically skyrocket without a vote.

So, if this massive levy passes, Cincinnati homeowners, already reeling from the recession, declining home values, the foreclosure crisis, and rising tax rates, now also have to cope with a enormous additional property tax burden to support CPS' wasteful spending patterns.