Voting Behavior in School District Tax Elections: An Analysis of Property and Income Tax Options

INTRODUCTIONIn the United States, many states require school districts to obtain voter approval for tax levies.School districts unable to pass levies are faced with the prospect of significant budget cuts, including loss of extra-curricular activities, and possible take over by the state government.Wide variations exist across the 50 states in how local school districts can raise own-source revenues.Many states only permit school districts to levy property taxes, while others allow school districts to use a combination of property, sales, and income taxes to raise own-source revenues.In Ohio, school districts have the option of raising ownsource revenues using both a property tax and a local-option income tax to fund general operating expenses.Assessing Ohio's experience with the school district income tax is important for other states seeking to reduce the heavy dependence on the property tax for providing local revenues for education.An understanding of voting behavior in property and non-property tax referenda is necessary for identifying the variables that are important for explaining aggregate-level voting behavior in these tax levy elections.The raising of own-source revenues by school districts is an important issue in light of