By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
The Willoughby-Eastlake School Board and Administration is contemplating replacing their emergency property tax levies with an Earned Income Tax Levy.
What is an Earned Income Tax Levy you may ask? We did an bit of research and discovered the following:
Source: https://tax.ohio.gov/individual/file-now/school-district-income-tax-page
“The Ohio school district income tax provides revenue to support school districts. School district income taxes are only passed by voter approval. This tax is separate from any federal taxes, state taxes, city income tax, and property taxes. The Ohio Department of Taxation (ODT) collects and administers the tax on behalf of the school districts. School district income tax returns are subject to the same requirements and procedures as the Ohio individual income tax return.”
“Only Ohio residents can be residents of a school district. Part-year residents of Ohio are also considered residents of a school district during their time as Ohio residents.”
“Not all school districts have a separate income tax. As of January 2026, 210 Ohio school districts have an income tax. Any person or estate that receives income while a resident of a taxing school district is subject to the school district income tax.”
“Unlike city taxes, you only pay school district income taxes based on where you live, not where you work. If your employer withheld school district tax but you were not a resident of any taxing school district during the year, you would still need to file an SD 100 to request a refund of your withholding.”
“Ohio has two different types of taxing school districts, traditional and earned income.”
“Traditional: This method uses the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) minus the exemption deduction to determine your taxable income. Retirement income may be taxable under this method.”
“Earned Income: This method taxes employee wages earned plus net earnings received from self-employment that are included in the MAGI. Retirement income is not taxable under this method.” [This is Willoughby-Eastlake School District’s choice for the income tax levy.]
We recorded several videos from the recent Willoughby-Eastlake School Board’s recent meeting where the Earned Income Tax Levy was discussed and debated.
From the Ohio Department of Education website we created the following report comparing the Willoughby Eastlake School District with other Ohio school districts.
The average revenue per pupil for the Willoughby-Eastlake School District for FY 2025 was $19,240.13. Similar districts in the state received $16,604.01.
We wondered how the Willoughby-Eastlake scored on their state scorecard?
This website will provides a great deal of information:
https://reports.education.ohio.gov/report/report-card-data-similar-districts
In Early Literacy Rating they had 4 stars with a 79.2% proficiency.
Improving At-Risk k-3 Readers they earned a 69.3% proficiency.
Promotion to 4th Grade they earned 100.0% proficiency even though the child was not able to read.
In 3rd Grade English they earned 67.2% proficiency.
In Gap Closing they earned 52.2% proficiency. [ The Gap Closing component measured how well schools were meeting established goals in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics (MTH), Graduation, English Learners, Gifted and Chronic Absenteeism.]
We have requested additional information from their Treasurer Nicholas Ciarnello, and will update this post when it is received.
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