Issue 9: what it would cost you, and what’s at stake

What will it cost if Issue 9 passes?

The district’s published cost is $234.50 a year for every $100,000 of your home’s county value, or $19.54 a month. For a $300,000 home that’s about $704 a year. Your own number is in the lookup above.

Issue 9 is 6.7 mills made of two parts. 3.4 mills continue a school operating levy voters first approved in 2002, and 3.3 mills are new. That’s why the true increase over today’s bill falls in a range:

• Low end, about $115.50 per $100,000 a year: if the continuing part keeps costing what it does now, you only pay more for the new 3.3 mills.
• High end, about $234.50 per $100,000 a year: if the continuing part is charged at its full rate.

The school district treasurer’s office can tell you exactly where in that range homeowners will land. Seniors and others with the homestead exemption pay less, and the lookup subtracts it when county records show it.

What happens if Issue 9 fails?

Your taxes

Issue 9 adds nothing to your bill. The 2002 levy it would continue is ending, so that part of your bill is expected to go away. That saves up to about $119 a year per $100,000 of home value (less if it’s currently charged at a reduced rate).

The schools

If Issue 9 fails, the district says it would collect no new revenue in 2027, keep the $1.8 million in cuts already made, and cut about $15.2 million more by 2027–28, for roughly $20 million in total. It would move to state minimum operating standards. At its September 10, 2026 board meeting, the district listed the cuts it plans:

These are the district’s plans and projections. The treasurer’s forecast shows the deficit reaching about $30.5 million by 2030. Issue 9 would give the schools five years of steady operating revenue, though the district notes it won’t close the entire gap on its own. Since 2023 it has put an operating levy or bond on the ballot five times, counting Issue 9.

Do home values go up or down when school levies fail?

They tend to go down. Studies of Ohio home sales find that home values drop after a levy fails.

If you’ve paid off your house, it’s probably the biggest thing you own, and it’s what you’ll sell or pass on someday. Buyers pay more to live in a district with strong schools, so good schools help hold up your home’s value even if no one in your house attends them.

How do Strongsville property taxes compare with nearby cities?

Strongsville homeowners pay about 1.64% of their home’s value each year in total property taxes, which includes schools, city, county and library. That’s tied with Westlake for the lowest of the nearby cities below. With Issue 9 it would be about 1.76% to 1.87%.

Tax rates are for homes in each city’s main taxing district, from the Cuyahoga County Treasurer. They include every local levy and state credits. The yearly tax column applies each rate to the same home value. School ratings are overall stars from the 2024–25 Ohio School Report Card for the district serving most of each city. Brecksville and Broadview Heights share one district, and Middleburg Heights is part of the Berea district. A dash means we haven’t added that rating yet.

How good are Strongsville schools?

On Ohio’s most recent report card (2024–25), Strongsville City Schools earned 4.5 out of 5 stars overall, down from 5 stars the year before. Statewide, 47 districts earned 5 stars, and more than 90% of districts earned 3 stars or more.

Among the nearby districts in the table above, Brecksville-Broadview Heights and Solon earned 5 stars. Westlake and North Royalton earned 4.5, Parma 4, and North Olmsted 3.5.

The 2025–26 report cards usually come out in mid-September. We’ll update this page when they do. You can see every rating in detail at Ohio School Report Cards.

Are we getting what we pay for, now and with Issue 9?

Here is what Strongsville pays and gets, side by side:

With Issue 9, Strongsville’s rate would be about the same as Brecksville’s (1.86%) and Parma’s (1.77%), above Westlake and Middleburg Heights, and below North Royalton, Broadview Heights, Solon, Berea, Olmsted Falls and North Olmsted.

What research says about school spending: A study of operating levy elections in seven states found that $1,000 more per student raised test scores and graduation rates. Those gains came mostly from districts that spent less than the median per student.

Abbott, Kogan, Lavertu & Peskowitz, Journal of Public Economics (2020)

The district says its residential school tax rate is the second-lowest in Cuyahoga County, and it has won state and national budgeting awards.

Why vote yes on Issue 9?

Here’s the case for Issue 9:

• It keeps what families and home buyers look for. Without it, the district plans about $20 million in total cuts, including no middle or high school sports, no high school busing, and elementary classes of 30 or more.
• It helps protect home values. Ohio research links failed school levies to lower home prices (see Question 3).
• Strongsville taxes stay among the lowest nearby. Even with Issue 9, our rate would be about 1.76% to 1.87%, below North Royalton, Solon, Berea and Olmsted Falls.
• About half of it isn’t new. 3.4 of the 6.7 mills continue a levy Strongsville voters first approved in 2002. The district says the combined levy “reduces revenue collected by $2.2 million, representing a lower tax rate in 2027 than in 2024.”
• Voters stay in control. It’s a five-year levy, so it comes back to the ballot before it can continue.

If you’re on a fixed income

• Look up your address at the top of this page for your exact numbers. For a $300,000 home, the new part of Issue 9 is about $29 a month.
• If you’re 65 or older, or permanently disabled, and your Ohio income was $41,000 or less in 2025, you may qualify for the homestead exemption, which lowers your property taxes. You apply through the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer, and the deadline is December 31.