Orange tax rates compared to neighboring districts

Levy Facts

Support Funding for Orange Classrooms

Understand the upcoming school levy before you vote. The district is asking for 5.0 mills on the November ballot to fund the critical operation of our schools. Orange Schools already has the lowest school district residential tax rate in Eastern Cuyahoga County.

Orange has the lowest residential school tax rate in Eastern Cuyahoga County. If your home were located in many neighboring school districts instead of the Orange City School District, you would pay more in school property taxes.

Cost Breakdown

Household Investment Facts

The Orange City School District Board of Education has placed a 5.0 mill operating levy on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The proceeds of this levy will be used for general operating expenses, with collection beginning in 2027. This is the critical funding that powers our school district.

$14.58/month

Monthly cost per $100k value

$175/year

Annual cost

$1,551,197

Estimated annual revenue generated per mill

For every $100,000 of home value, the levy costs $14.58 per month, or $0.48 per day. This is a predictable rate that maintains critical classroom resources and directly protects local property values.

The cost per $100,000 of home valuation per year is $175. Every single dollar remains inside the Orange School District.

Five mills catches up our operating budget to keep pace with inflationary costs, decreased state funding, and health care cost increases.

Where Funds Go

Protecting Classroom Essentials

Levy dollars directly support the core pillars of an excellent education, ensuring safe environments and modern tools.

Academic Excellence

Safety & Security

Teacher Retention

Maintains advanced placement courses, career-technical pathways, and essential classroom learning materials for every student.

Funds dedicated school security officers, modern building access controls, and comprehensive student safety support systems.

Keeps qualified, experienced educators in our local classrooms by securing competitive, sustainable compensation packages.

An Operating Levy Pays the Lion's Share

Instructional services and supplies
Educational technology
Teacher and staff salaries and benefits

Student support services
Extracurricular activities
Utilities

Fuel and transportation expenses
Repairs and maintenance
Other operating expenses

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Answers for Voters

Frequently Asked Questions

How much are we voting for?

The district is asking to increase taxes by 5.0 mills. A mill is a unit of value for expressing the rate of property taxes in Ohio. A mill is defined as one-tenth of a percent or one-tenth of a cent (0.1 cents) in cash terms. Millage is the factor applied to the assessed value of property to produce tax revenue.

How long will the levy be in effect?

This is a continuing levy, which means it does not have a set expiration date. It remains in effect until it is repealed or replaced, which provides a reliable, ongoing funding source for the school district. Taxes stack over time to keep pace with inflation. We haven't had a tax increase for Orange Schools since 2011.

When is the vote?

Please vote YES on November 03, 2026. See the Voting page for more details.

What if it fails?

Failure could result in reductions in academic programs, extracurricular activities, student transportation, and essential classroom staff. Potential cuts include:

Class Ratios: Currently, Orange Schools delivers 15:1 student to teacher ratio provided by highly qualified teachers, of which 91% have master’s degrees.
Tech: Chromebooks for all students in kindergarten through twelfth grade
AP Classes: 23 Advanced Placement courses and 16 honors courses offered at the high school level.
Languages: 16 courses in 4 world languages offered at the high school level
Bussing: Door to door transportation services provided to students in all grade levels.
Sports: Currently, 24 varsity sports at the high school level are offered and 22 sports at the middle school level with no pay to participate fees
Extracurriculars: 74 unique clubs and activities
Music & Theatre: Award-winning music and theatre programs would be reduced.

Is this necessary?

Yes. If our community values its keystone educational institution, then funding is necessary to keep it functional. Consider the District already has:

Restructured teacher salary schedule, saving more than $1.5M in long-term savings
Lived within existing revenues since 2011
Maintained the lowest school district residential tax rate in Eastern Cuyahoga County for over a decade

What has changed:

Inflation increases. Per BLS CPI data, today's prices are 1.48 times as high as average prices since 2011. A dollar today only buys 67.568% of what it could buy back then.
Employee health care costs.
Flat revenue. Per HB 920, higher property values do not automatically provide school districts with additional operating revenue.

If the Levy Fails: Our District will first enter deficit spending. Then, cuts will be made to staff, services, and instruction. Then, we will exhaust all budget resources by 2029.

Graphs Source: Orange City School District Treasurer's Office.

Property values have increased. Why does the District need more money?

Higher home values do not automatically mean more money for Orange Schools. House Bill 920 is Ohio law that protects property owners from automatic tax increases by keeping existing levies from automatically generating more money when property values rise. Additional funding can only come from a new levy approved by voters.

Graph Source: Orange City School District Treasurer's Office.

How does HB 920 limit property taxes?

The first vote is the ceiling.

Your property tax bill is actually the cumulative amount of several taxes stacked on top of one another. The total assessment for every $100k of home value is based on levies that have been approved by voters over time.

When property values go up, HB 920 requires the county auditor to automatically reduce the effective tax rate (“mills”) on existing voted levies so the levy continues to collect about the same total amount of revenue as when it was first approved by voters.

Rising home values do not automatically increase money for schools.

As property values increase HB 920 automatically adjusts the effective tax rate. The effective tax rate (mills) is reduced just enough to offset the increase in property values. Existing levies will not ever exceed the amount collected at the property’s value in the first year the taxes were collected.

Here's a real world example.

Here’s what that means in voter-friendly terms:

A levy is approved today to raise $5 million per year.
Total property value in the district is $1 billion.
Ten years later, property values increase by 40% to $1.4 billion.

Without HB 920: The same 5‑mill levy would collect about $7 million ($1.4 billion × 0.005 = $7 million). You would pay the same mill rate, but the school would get more money.

With HB 920: HB 920 requires the tax rate (mills) to be reduced so the levy still collects about $5 million, not $7 million. The effective tax rate is adjusted downward, so revenue stays about the same.

Note: Of the current 32.5 mills Orange City School District currently collects, 5.2 mills actually do rise with home values. All other taxes do not.

Bottom line: Significant additional funding can only come from a new levy approved by voters.

Graph Source: Committee to Support Orange Schools

How does this levy compare to nearby school districts?

See this chart of peer school districts in Eastern Cuyahoga County listing each operating levy in effect since tax year 2011. The columns to the right list the number of levies and total millage approved by voters since tax year 2011. This chart excludes bond issues and permanent improvement levies. It also does not include the recently approved 6.90 mill operating levy in Solon.

Neighboring District Tax Rates

eastern cuyahoga county school levies comparison

We just voted on some levies. Why do we need this one?

This levy is NOT for the recreation department. It is NOT for capital expenditures. This levy will fund education in our district.

Voters approved monies for different funds. They approved a Permanent Improvement levy for the schools in 2023 that funds capital expenditures such as roofing, roads, and buses. Voters also approved a different levy, which was a renewal of a 2005 levy for Orange Community Education and Recreation in 2025.

These are separate funds that may NOT be used for Orange City Schools' teacher salaries, education services, or textbooks.

The operating levy on the ballot November 3rd is the most important funding source for Orange education.

Graph Source: Orange City School District Treasurer's Office.

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