By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
This is a public service announcement….Three card monte scam being played on the voters… Try to follow the levies as they keep shuffling the deck. THEY ARE BACK FOR MORE!
We asked the Board of Elections for the details on the property tax and income tax levies that will be on the November 2026 ballot. Here is what we received.
To better understand what Lake County residents are facing, we converted the BOE’s document into a spreadsheet. There are 9 property tax levies with 8 renewals and 1 new property tax levy for the embattled Mentor School District. In addition, there are 3 earned income tax levies for Painesville, Riverside and the Willoughby-Eastlake school districts.
Here is the deception…
We uncovered an issue dealing with the income tax levies. All property taxes levies indicate to the voter how much annual revenue is to be generated for each levy. However, the income tax levies are silent on the amount of revenue to be generated. We have been told that it is not required by current state law. We believe that is not being transparent with the voters so we contacted the Treasurers of the three school districts and asked three questions:
- How much annual revenue will be generated if voters approve their respective income tax levies?
- What is the comparable number of mills if property taxes were used instead of the earned income tax levy?
- How much annual revenue will be generated because the two Commissioners (Beverage & McIntosh) failed to approve the renewal of the owner occupancy credit for homeowners?
Here are their replies:
| SCHOOL DISTRICT | ANNUAL REVENUE | COMPARABLE MILLS | OWNER OCCUPANCY ANNUAL WINDFALL |
| PAINESVILLE | $3,400,000 | 12.42 | $102,000 |
| RIVERSIDE | $13,700,000 | 7.82 | $660,000 |
| WILLOUGHGY EASTLAKE | $14,029,656 | 5.63 | $1,400,000 |
Interesting to note that we never see or hear the school districts announce their respective proficiency scores. (Note: We would keep them on the downlow too, because we would be embarrassed by the results they are all getting.)
Hopefully, we have provided additional information that will help our readers decide on how to vote on their respective school district’s levies. Never play three card monte…you are funding your own demise.
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ANY TAX CAUSING A CITIZEN TO BECOME HOMELESS IS IMMORAL!
If citizens continue to vote for property tax levies, they are funding their own demise.
Categories: Community Activism, Lake, Lake County - General, Real Estate Taxes, Uncategorized