Tuesday, August 17, 1999
Anti-tax group targets fall levy
Cincinnati schools on Nov. 2 ballot
BY ERIN GIBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A prominent anti-tax group pledged Monday to defeat the Cincinnati Public Schools tax levy, saying the measure destined for the Nov. 2 ballot was “bound to fail.”
The announcement came just after the Cincinnati Board of Education voted to seek a $24 million tax approval this November despite a teacher's union representative warning the 4.5-mill levy wasn't enough to avoid big budget cuts after two years.
Tom Brinkman Jr. of Mount Lookout, spokesman for the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), said his group would make defeating the school levy its priority this fall, along with defeating a Drake Hospital levy.
“I feel very confident that the levy will fail, just because of the sheer number of levies,” Mr. Brinkman said. “It's just information overload.”
Mr. Brinkman and his supporters led a successful campaign in 1997 to defeat a Cincinnati Zoo levy that passed when it reappeared on the ballot last year. COAST will start a campaign against the school levy at the end of this month, Mr. Brinkman said.
Katie Hofmann, third vice president for the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, said the federation would support the levy, although it believes the amount of money it will raise is too low.
“We can't not support this, or else we'll be in a worse situation,” she said.
A report by the federation shows $3 million and $8 million deficits starting in 2002 under the proposed levy, which would take effect in January.
Mr. Brinkman, addressing board members, praised the proposed levy as “much more reasonable” than prior estimates of up to $92 million, but said COAST still wanted them to cut the levy in half.
He cited an audit of Cincinnati Public Schools completed by the State Auditor's Office last fall and asked the board to make all cuts recommended in the audit — including cuts in teachers and in transportation.
“There's too many teachers,” Mr. Brinkman said. “They're overpaid. They're underworked.”
CPS teachers are the highest paid among Ohio's 10 largest districts, with an average salary of $54,805, the audit found.
Board member Harriet Russell said the board rejected recommendations in the audit that “lack common sense.” She cited one that suggested the board stop busing many students to save $8 million each year.
“Yes, it would save us money,” Ms. Russell said, “but that would be very hard on those families.”
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