School Benchmarks · October 2026
Every school tax question on the ballot for Sycamore, its 22 comparison districts, and districts in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties, measured in dollars per student and per median home.
Local school tax: property tax plus any school income tax. Today means tax year 2025, the bills paid in 2026. Ballot figures are the county auditor's estimates as printed in the ballot language.
| District | Question | Mills | New tax per student, per year | New tax on the median home, per year | Property tax per student today | Increase | Home operating mills today | 1 mill raises, per student |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sycamore | New operating + permanent improvement levy, continuing | 6.95 | $3,214 | $1,142 | $16,183 | +20% | 25.6 | $462 |
| Cincinnati | New operating levy, 5 years | 7 | $2,093 | $550 | $13,642 | +15% | 38.1 | $299 |
| Winton Woods | New operating levy, continuing | 6.95 | $1,348 | $489 | $8,495 | +16% | 32.8 | $194 |
| Upper Arlington | New operating levy, continuing | 4.9 | $2,252 | $1,017 | $21,167 | +11% | 37.2 | $460 |
| Upper Arlington | Bond, $273.5M (same question), 38 years | 4.84 | $2,227* | $1,000 | $21,167 | +11% | 37.2 | $460 |
| Aurora | Bond, $96.2M, 37 years | 4.26 | $1,846* | $578 | $17,088 | +11% | 35.4 | $433 |
| Bexley | Bond, $29.25M (with 0.5% income tax), 30 years | 2.05 | $703* | $380 | $16,031 | +4% | 42.5 | $343 |
New tax per student: the auditor's annual estimate divided by 2025-26 enrollment. *Bonds carry no annual figure on the ballot; this is an estimate from the auditor's average millage and today's taxable value per student. Median home: owner-occupied, Census 2020–24 survey, priced with the auditor's dollars per $100,000 of market value. Home operating mills: the rate homeowners pay for operations after state reductions. Bexley's question also adds a 0.5% income tax (next table).
| District | Rate | Base, term | Stated yield per student, per year | Yield stated by | School income tax today | Property tax per student today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bexley | 0.5% | all income, continuing | — | not stated on ballot | 0.75% traditional | $16,031 |
| Northwest | 1.5% | earned income, continuing | $4,467 | WVXU, approximate | none | $11,221 |
| Fairfield | 1.25% | earned income, 5 years | $2,778 | Journal-News, projection | none | $8,041 |
| Lebanon | 1% | earned income, 10 years | $2,925 | district | none | $12,511 |
| Franklin | 1.25% | earned income, 5 years | $3,071 | Dayton Daily News | none | $11,812 |
| North College Hill | 1.25% | earned income, 5 years | — | not found | none | $4,828 |
| Southwest | 0.25% | earned income, continuing | — | not found | 0.75% earned income only | $7,061 |
Rate, base and term are from the ballot. Income-tax ballots state no yield; where one appears it comes from news reports or the district and is not independently verified. Earned income excludes pensions, Social Security, interest, dividends and capital gains; "all income" includes them.
| District | Question |
|---|---|
| Lakota | Bond, $223.5M, 37 years: collection starts 2029 as the current 2.23-mill bond ends |
| Oakwood | Renewal, 1.8-mill permanent improvement levy |
| Bethel-Tate | Renewal, 5.48-mill operating levy, 5 years |
| District | Group | Rate, 2026 | Base | Collected per student, 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | comparison | 1.25% | traditional | $5,028 |
| Ross | local | 1.25% | earned income only | $3,072 |
| Carlisle | local | 1% | traditional | $2,437 |
| Clermont-Northeastern | local | 1% | traditional | $4,256 |
| Goshen | local | 1% | traditional | $2,078 |
| Kings | local | 1% | earned income only | new in 2026 |
| New Miami | local | 1% | traditional | $1,493 |
| Talawanda | local | 1% | traditional | $3,427 |
| Bexley | comparison | 0.75% | traditional | $3,974 |
| Southwest | local | 0.75% | earned income only | $1,652 |
| Perrysburg | comparison | 0.5% | traditional | $1,960 |
| Madison | local | 0.5% | traditional | $1,198 |
Sycamore, Cincinnati, Lakota and the other comparison districts levy no school income tax. Kings' 1% tax took effect January 1, 2026; voters approved it in November 2025.