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State Budget Proposal Would Reduce Aid for Cleveland

A worker prepares to move road salt at a Cleveland service facility in December 2016. [Nick Castele / ideastream]
A worker prepares to move road salt at a Cleveland service facility in December 2016.

The city of Cleveland would see a reduction in state money under a new plan in Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget. The changes to the local government fund would benefit some suburbs, while reducing aid to others.

Counties, cities, villages and townships together receive millions of dollars each year from the state’s local government fund. The governor wants to set aside a portion of that fund and divvy it up based on a community’s capacity to raise revenue.

The idea, as state officials explain it, is for more money to go to communities with less capacity to raise tax dollars on their own. 

New estimates from the state show Cleveland losing 8.2 percent of its annual allocation by 2019. Akron would gain just one tenth of a percent.

It’s a mixed bag for the suburbs. Parma and Maple Heights would each see their allocation grow by nearly a quarter. Beachwood would lose 28.3 percent, and Independence would lose 40.2 percent.

The state budget is still going through Ohio House Finance Committee hearings. It must be approved before July 1, the date it takes effect. 

Nick Castele was a senior reporter covering politics and government for Ideastream Public Media. He worked as a reporter for Ideastream from 2012-2022.