School levies turned down in Ravenna, Mogadore; Aurora voters OK renewal

Diane Smith, Ravenna Record-Courier
Updated ·2 min read
Signs in support of the Mogadore Local School District's tax levy stand on the corner of South Cleveland Avenue and Prospect Street in Mogadore on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. The tax issue failed in Tuesday's primary election vote.
Signs in support of the Mogadore Local School District's tax levy stand on the corner of South Cleveland Avenue and Prospect Street in Mogadore on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. The tax issue failed in Tuesday's primary election vote.

Two Portage County school districts asking for new money were denied Tuesday, but voters in Aurora OK'd the renewal of a levy.

Issue 12, an emergency levy for the Ravenna School District, was rejected 2,156-1,588, according to unofficial results from the Portage County Board of Elections. It was the third time the district had asked voters for new money.

Mogadore voters in Summit and Portage counties rejected a levy request there. In Summit County, Issue 13 failed with 50.81%, or 437 votes, to 49.19%, or 423 votes. Part of the district is in Portage County, where the issue was rejected as well, 266-192.

Voters in Ravenna and Mogadore rejected identical levies they rejected in November. Both districts had warned that circumstances would be dire if the levies were rejected again.

Aurora voters also faced a renewal levy, but it passed there by 1,000 votes, 2,211-1,315, according to unofficial election results.

Ravenna's levy would have generated $2.7 million annually and cost homeowners $242 per year per $100,000 in home value, or about $20 per month.

In November, Ravenna voters rejected the district's second attempt at a 6.9-mill, five-year levy. In December, the Board of Education voted to put the levy back on the March ballot, this time as an emergency levy.

Mogadore voters faced an additional 5.9-mill levy that would have raised $743,000 annually for five years for the district's operations. Property owners would have paid $207 for each $100,000 of the county fiscal officer’s appraised value.

Mogadore Superintendent John A. Knapp declined to comment on the levy Tuesday night, citing Ohio Revised Code.

Aurora's renewal is a 1.5-mill, 5-year renewal levy. Superintendent Mike Roberto recently said that because the levy is not a tax increase, it would bring in the same amount of money it did when it was first approved in 1982.

Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com. Akron Beacon Journal reporter April Helms contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ohio election results for school levies in Ravenna, Mogadore, Aurora