WAVERLY, Ohio — Waverly City School District voters rejected the district’s income tax request for the second time this year, defeating a proposed 0.5% tax in unofficial results from the Pike County Board of Elections.
The tax failed 2,607 votes to 1,176 in the district’s Pike County precincts. Voters in the district’s single Ross County precinct also voted no, 119 to 51, according to unofficial results from the Ross County Board of Elections, bringing the district-wide unofficial total to 2,726 against and 1,227 for.
The five-year tax would have taken effect Jan. 1, 2027, and funded current expenses, according to the ballot language. The school board had reduced the request from the 0.75% tax voters rejected in May, after cutting more than $1.6 million from the district’s budget over the past year, according to the board.
The board had also warned before the election that the ballot described the tax as an earned income tax, while the board said it had submitted a traditional income tax, which reaches more kinds of income and would have raised more money.
Pike County voters also rejected the county Board of Developmental Disabilities levy, a 2-mill, five-year measure, by 5,126 votes to 3,078, according to unofficial results.
All results are unofficial until certified by the boards of elections.
