Below is a brief summary of the 65 school levies that will be on the ballot in the upcoming May 5th primary election. While there are fewer total school levies on the primary ballot than in recent years, there are also more school district income tax levies, more new levies and more continuing levies on the ballot than there have been in the last seven years.

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May 2026 School Levy Summary and Analysis

Table 1 provides a summary of the number and type of school levies on the ballot in the March/May primary election from 2020 to 2026. Table 1 shows that the 65 school levies on the May 2026 primary is the lowest in the last 7 years. The reason for this is most likely concern regarding the current high level of voter frustration with property taxes as a result of recent historically large increases in the reappraisal value of residential and agricultural property. The decrease in school levies on the ballot this May follows 2024 and 2025 when the number of school levies on the ballot returned to the March 2020 (pre-Covid pandemic) level of levy activity. However, the 2026 total of 65 school levies is even lower than the number of levies on the primary ballot from 2021 through 2023 and is the lowest number of school levies on the primary ballot in the last 24 years (dating back to 2003). The average number of school levies on the ballot from 2003 to 2024 is 129, almost exactly twice the number on the ballot next month.

Table 1: School Levies on the Primary Ballot 2020-2026, By Type

Table 2 provides a more detailed breakdown of capital levies (defined as bond levies, permanent improvement (PI) levies, and combination bond/PI levies) on the ballot in the March/May primary election from 2020-2026.

Table 2: Capital Levies on the Primary Election Ballot 2020-2026, By Type

Table 2 shows that the 13 school capital levies on the May 2026 ballot is much lower than the number of capital levies on the ballot in the 2020 and 2022-2025 primary elections. Only the 14 capital levies on the ballot May 2021 (in the immediate aftermath of the Covid pandemic) is close to next month’s total and those 2 years reflect the two lowest capital levy totals dating back to 2003. The majority of capital levies are typically new levies as Bond and Combination levies are always new because they cannot be renewed. The average number of capital levies on the ballot from 2003 to 2025 was 38, nearly triple the 13 on the ballot next month. Capital levies overall typically pass 56% of the time in Ohio, however the passage rate of new capital levies since 2010 is slightly above 40% while the passage rate for renewal capital levies (all of which are PI renewals) is typically above 90%.

Table 3 provides a more detailed breakdown of operating levies on the March/May primary ballot from 2020-2026. (Note that “Other” operating levies – defined as those for county financing districts, technology levies and school safety and security levies – typically comprise only a very small share of operating levies on the ballot.)

Table 3: Operating Levies on the Primary Election Ballot 2020-2026, By Type

* Emergency levies include substitute levies.

** Other operating levies include technology, safety and security, and county financing district levies

The data in Table 3 show that the 52 operating levies on the ballot this year is just below the number on the ballot in May 2021 and 2022 and significantly lower than the number on the ballot in May 2025 and March 2020 and 2024. In fact, 2016 with 46 was the only year dating back to 2003 with a lower number of school operating levies on the ballot than the 52 next month.

Table 3 also shows that from 2020-2025 emergency levies typically accounted for roughly one half of school operating levies on the primary election ballot in Ohio, however there are no emergency levies on the May 2026 ballot. This is because emergency levies were eliminated by the legislature last year, although HB 129 did allow for districts to renew expiring emergency levies in 5 year increments as “fixed sum” levies. The May 2026 ballot shows 5 current expense levy renewals for 5 years, but it is not clear at this point whether any of these are renewals of expiring emergency levies.

The other very noticeable trend in the May 2026 school operating levy data is the unusually large number of school district income tax (SDIT) levies on the ballot. There are typically far more property tax current expenses levies on the ballot than school district income tax operating levies, with SDITs typically comprising one quarter to one third of school operating levies placed before voters. However, 32 of the 52 school operating levies (61.5%) on the ballot next month are SDITs. The unusually high percentage of school income tax levies on the May ballot is almost certainly a reaction by school districts to the current property tax backlash prevalent across much of Ohio.

Table 4 provides additional insight on operating levies on the March/May primary ballot in Ohio by providing a breakdown between new levies, renewal levies, and replacement levies. New levies are defined as those that are placing new millage on the ballot, and renewal levies are renewing existing term-limited levies. Property tax replacement levies restored a levy to its originally voted millage level after it had been reduced by the impact of HB 920 rolling back the voted rate and were eliminated by the legislature in 2025. The two replacement levies in 2024 and 2025 were school district income tax issues.

Table 4: New vs. Renewal Operating Levies on the Primary Election Ballot 2020-2026

Table 4 shows that 79% (41 of 52) of the operating levies on the ballot this May are new levies. This percentage is nearly double the 41% (31 of 75) of new operating levies on the ballot in the March 2020 primary election that were new levies, and 3 to 5 times the rate of new operating levies on the primary ballot each year from 2021 through 2025. The percentage of school operating levies on the ballot that have been renewals has been steadily increasing in Ohio over the past 25 years as the percentage of new levies has fallen. From 1994-1997 78% of school operating levies were new levies. This percentage decreased to 61% from 1998-2006, to 54% from 2007-2013, and to only 31% from 2014-2023. While renewal levies are far more successful at the ballot (renewal levies typically pass 90% of the time while new levies have passed at roughly a 40% rate in recent years), renewal levies typically do not bring in additional tax dollars whereas new levies do.

Finally, Table 5 shows that 46% (24 of 52) of school operating levies on the May 2026 ballot are for a continuing period of time rather than for a fixed number of years. This is 2 to 3 times the percentage of continuing levies on the ballot in each of the primary elections from 2021 to 2025. This increase is likely due to the fact that in previous years emergency levy renewals (which can only be for a fixed number of years,) comprised a large proportion of school levies on the ballot.

Table 5: Continuing & Term-Limited Operating Levies on the Primary Election Ballot 2020-2026