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PARMA, Ohio -- Roughly six months after voters in Parma, Parma Heights and Seven Hills defeated a school tax increase by a roughly 20% margin, residents sent the same message on Election Day. Vote totals for Issue 49, which would cost a $100,000 homeowner $20.13 a month, were 12,097 (57.59%) against versus 8,907 (42.41%) in favor, according to final, unofficial results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. Parma City Schools Superintendent Scott Hunt said while he was hopeful, the results weren’t unexpected. “I’m not surprised we didn’t make it through,” he said. “I’ve done this before and usually on the first try, it’s pretty difficult. “We have a steering committee in place that has been working very hard since I arrived here in July talking about the need for this levy. So a lot of volunteers have done a lot of work. But I also understand the difficulty anytime you come to the public asking for additional tax dollars.” The 10-year, 6.9-mil operational levy would have raised $23,131,939 annually and funded the district through 2030, if not slightly longer. Parma City Schools last passed a new money operating levy in 2011. Similar district operating levy efforts were also defeated by residents in 2017 and 2018. “Our budget keeps us this year ending above our cash reserve policy, but we’re going to have to talk about what adjustments need to be made because we’re still in the same boat financially,” he said. “So now we have to have those hard discussions in December through March when we start doing staffing and budgeting. “What does it look like to preserve what we have yet cut dollars so that we can stay afloat? There’s no plan yet, but I can assure you we’ll be talking about everything from our staffing levels to our programs, transportation, and pay to participate.” As far as residents seeing the same levy on a spring ballot, the superintendent said that’ll be up to the board of education. “The finances aren’t going to look any better in May than they do right now,” he said. Also on Election Day, the race for Parma City Schools Board of Education included three candidates Leah Euerle (8,442 votes), Nick Reyes (8,240 votes) and Tammie Sebastian (8,169 votes) running unopposed for the three open seats. Board members earn $125 per meeting with a maximum of $5,000 annually.
