JEROMESVILLE — Last fall, 47 votes were the only thing standing in the way of renewing Hillsdale Local School’s income tax levy.
1,368 voters approved the renewal, 1,416 did not.
On May 2, the levy will get another chance when it appears on the ballots of voters in the Jeromesville and Hayesville areas.
The 1.25% income tax levy, which pays for the district’s day-to-day operations, originally passed in 2013 and took effect in 2014.
Hillsdale superintendent Steve Dickerson emphasized that the levy isn’t new, it’s just a renewal for a tax that has been in place for a decade.
If it’s re-upped in May, it will generate over $2 million for the district every year.
“There is no new money tied to this,” he said.
Last fall, Hillsdale hosted informational meetings about the levy, but none that advocated for its passage.
Under Ohio law, school district employees can’t use public funds or resources to advocate for a levy, so it mostly falls to community levy committees to campaign for them. Hillsdale did not have a committee last fall.
But this time, they do, and they’ve been working “really hard” to spread information about it, Dickerson said.
“(They’re) doing an awesome job,” he said.
If it doesn’t pass in May, the levy will have one more chance to pass on November’s ballots, Dickerson added.
