Voters in the Claymont City School District will decide in November whether to lower a property tax supporting the district, after a citizens' group petitioned to get the question on the ballot.
Twelve district residents gathered over 400 signatures to lower the existing school levy from 5 mills to 2 mills amid growing frustration with Claymont’s administration.
Those frustrations include a change to how the district spends a portion of funding it receives as its share of inside millage. In Ohio, inside millage is the amount of unvoted tax funding guaranteed by state law.
In 2025, the district changed how it would spend that inside millage, moving 4.2 mills from its operating expenses fund to permanent improvements.
That resulted in a tax increase because the district is at the 20 mill floor. The floor refers to a guarantee in Ohio law that schools get a minimum level of funding for operations. That minimum is promised in the form of 20 mills of property taxes.
So even though the district reduced its spending on operations by 4.2 mills, its operating fund had to be bumped back up to 20 mills — creating an automatic tax increase.
Superintendent Brian Rentsch said the board of education approved the shift to prepare for an expected shortfall in state funding.
Greg DiDonato is the mayor of Dennison, one of four communities that make up the Claymont City School District. He helped spearhead the petition effort.
He said it was hard to be sympathetic to the district’s concerns about funding after the tax increase last year.
“It was imposed, not voted, imposed,” he said. “And that is clearly the number one driver (for the petition), because right now, economic times as you know are tough.”
DiDonato said the expected tax increase, which goes into effect in 2027, didn’t go over well in an area where property taxes are already unpopular and the average income remains below the state average.
Other recent decisions, like the closure of Claymont Intermediate School in the spring, have further fueled community frustrations. The mayor said he learned through a public records request that the district spent over $3 million in repairs to the school before it ultimately closed.
Claymont Intermediate was the district’s last remaining school in the village of Dennison.
James Hallman, whose son attends a school in the district, said that while he hasn’t agreed with some of district’s choices, he doesn’t think taking away funding is the right way to express those frustrations.
“I think education is like the cornerstone of everything, and we really need to be backing the school,” he said. “I’ve had issues with things the schools have done but I’ve never thought about taking money away from them.”
Hallman said that while he doesn’t like property taxes, he believes the district is reliant on them because of inadequate state funding.
Tuscarawas County Auditor Larry Lindberg estimated that if the levy reduction passes, the loss to the district would be about $523,000. It would reduce homeowners’ future bills by about $51 for every $100,000 in property value.
Rentsch cautioned voters to consider potential impacts on students before casting their vote. He said that the reduction could lead to difficult choices when it comes to funding things like building repairs or busing availability.
“The cost of operating and upkeep is not going down, and inflation continues to go up,” he said.
Rentsch said the district is still developing a plan to address a potential cut in funding.
