Pickerington Local board votes to request certification of 1.25% income-tax levy for May ballot

The Pickerington Local School District Board of Education voted at a special meeting Jan. 19 to request certification from the Ohio Department of Taxation for an estimated 1.25% traditional income-tax levy, a step that, if certified, would let the district place the levy on the May 5, 2026 ballot.

Board President Kathy Olszewski said the board must pursue local revenue because the state's share of K–12 funding has fallen and left districts with fewer options. "This board will push ahead with a traditional income tax levy request in May of 1.25%. This tax will be in addition to the current 1 income tax that we already collect, and both taxes will exclude Social Security income," Olszewski said.

A board member presenting the financial case told colleagues the district has experienced a 17% increase in student enrollment over the last 15 years, expects roughly 2,000 more students in the next decade and now has "nearly half of our population now, 49.6% that are economically disadvantaged." The same speaker said the district has been deficit spending since 2022 and projected its cash balance could be negative by fiscal year 2028. "If we wanna keep PLSD a good academic district, let alone improve it significantly, we need additional dollars just to maintain," the board member said.

The motion to request certification, a procedural first step that requires a supermajority to advance, received a roll-call endorsement as read into the record; the transcript records affirmative responses when members were polled. The board president said the certified rate would next be submitted to the Fairfield County Board of Elections to schedule the levy vote.

Board members said they will produce detailed outreach explaining how new revenues would be spent and steps the district has taken to reduce expenditures without affecting instruction. One member noted the district has not sought a new operating levy since 2011 and cited consultant work showing Pickerington's tax burden remains competitive with nearby districts under illustrative assumptions.

The board also discussed a second, separate resolution concerning an existing traditional income tax levied on wage earners, but that second motion failed for lack of a second and was not advanced.

What happens next: the district will request certification from the Ohio Department of Taxation, then the county elections board will determine placement of the measure on the May 5 ballot and the district will publish outreach materials describing how revenues would be spent.