By Travis Gettys
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LUDLOW - Voters will decide Tuesday whether to raise property taxes to pay for school construction and repairs following a debate that has consumed citizens and led to an arrest for violation of election laws.

Edward Lucas of Ludlow was charged Friday with making or receiving expenditures for vote, a class D felony that carries a penalty of one to five years in prison, after police received three complaints this week of attempts to improperly influence voters.

"He was offering to give people something in exchange for voting or not voting," said Ludlow Police Chief Ray Murphy.

Advocates for the property tax increase accused opponents of spreading misinformation and intimidating shop owners who displayed flyers supporting the increase and opponents say school officials rushed the levy to the ballot.

The state legislature last year authorized school districts to pass a one-time property tax increase of a nickel for each $100 of assessed value, with the stipulation that the funds could be used only for building projects.

School boards for Boone and Kenton Counties last fall passed the "nickel growth" tax, but a petition drive in Ludlow landed the issue on the ballot.

"I feel like I should have the right to say 'yes' or 'no' to the taxes," said Janet Gaiser, a lifelong resident who sent four children and six grandchildren to Ludlow schools.

Officials could have delayed the vote until November, but Ludlow Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Grause said the school board called a special election so the issue wouldn't get lost amid the presidential campaign.

School officials launched an aggressive campaign to tell voters what their tax money would pay for: a replacement for the leaking elementary school roof, computer upgrades and improvements to a science lab.

The increase would raise taxes by $43.20 on a home valued at $75,800, which the 2000 U.S. Census determined was the median home value for the historic river town. Legislators allowed for an additional 0.7 cents to be added to the levy for collection expenses.

Gaiser, who owns two rental properties, sent a letter to her tenants warning that rent could go up by $15 each month if the tax passed.

"It seems as if they're passing it on at a higher rate than they're being asked to pay," Grause said.

The letters were intended only to inform tenants, Gaiser said.

Several business owners reported receiving threats of a boycott if they did not remove flyers supporting the tax increase, Murphy said.

Grause said a man followed her and other supporters March 19 along Elm Street, removing pro-increase flyers they posted in windows.

Kenton County Sheriff's deputies will monitor the city's four polling places for irregularities, said Col. Pat Morgan.

Shelley Donlin, owner of Deelites Dairy Bar, said she has been asked to hang flyers in her restaurant, but she turned down both sides.

"I'm not getting in the middle of it," she said.

E-mail tgettys@enquirer.com