Cuyahoga County voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to hike property taxes for disability services and other safety-net programs. Voters also have the chance to make changes to county officials’ powers and responsibilities.
Read on for a rundown of the five countywide ballot issues, Issues 10 through 14. Early voting begins Oct. 6.
These may not be the only issues on your ballot. Across the county, school districts and cities are asking voters to make decisions about taxes and government powers. See the full issues list here and check what is on your ballot here.
Issue 10: Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities tax increase
The developmental disabilities board serves about 15,000 people in Cuyahoga County. The board supports people, from birth through adulthood, who experienced physical or cognitive disabilities when they were young.
Taxpayers already support the board through a levy that passed in 2005. But those dollars are no longer keeping up with rising costs and caseloads, board leadership has said.
“Everything costs more than it did in 2005, services cost more and more people need us,” CEO Amber Gibbs told Signal Cleveland. “We have more people being diagnosed, people coming to us earlier — which is exactly what we like to see, so that we can help them younger meet more milestones.”
The board spends about 81% of its levy dollars on the local costs of a caregiving program that is supported by Medicaid, Gibbs told County Council this year. The dollars go toward such expenses as transportation, wheelchairs and other equipment and pay for certified caregivers.
A change in state law gave caretakers a raise in 2024. The pay bump, which contributed to the board’s rising costs, was “much needed,” Gibbs said.
The levy would increase taxes by $79 per $100,000 each year. It would raise $99.7 million for the board, which currently has a budget of about $177 million. The 2.25-mill levy would last 10 years.
Issue 11: Cuyahoga County health and human services tax increase
The county’s two health and human services levies raise around $279 million each year for safety-net programs.
Those include caring for children in county custody, providing senior services and offering universal pre-K. County health and human services dollars also support the MetroHealth System and the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board. The county also uses federal dollars to support its health and human services programs.
Expenses are expected to keep rising as costs grow and the county takes on more work to make up for federal cuts, Health and Human Services Director Dave Merriman told County Council this year.
The county projects to end the year with just $3.1 million in its fund for safety-net services, according to a county fact sheet. The county projects a growing deficit in the coming years, requiring cuts or a general fund subsidy.
A levy — plus fiscal discipline — would bring 10 years of HHS stability, Merriman said.
If voters approve the 4.7-mill levy renewal and 2.5-mill increase, it would cost $196 per year for $100,000 in property value. That’s a $87.50 increase over what the levy currently costs taxpayers, according to the county.
The new levy would raise $261.5 million and last 10 years. It currently generates $144.1 million.
Issue 12: Limiting the Cuyahoga County executive’s power to fire board members
The county executive appoints people to numerous boards, including those that oversee MetroHealth, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, Cuyahoga Community College and the Port of Cleveland, just to name a few. The appointments require confirmation County Council.
Issue 12 would require council’s approval to fire board members, too.
Council Member Sunny Simon said she learned that council currently has no role in removing board members after County Executive Chris Ronayne asked a member of the port board to resign. Simon said she proposed the amendment as a way to maintain council’s role overseeing county government.
“I think it’s really important that this council body, if we, again, confirm an appointment, should absolutely have a say in whether that appointee should be removed,” she said in July.
Issue 13: Delineating the county law department and prosecutor’s powers
This was the thorniest of the debates over charter amendments that made it onto the November ballot.
Both the county law department and the prosecutor’s office do legal work for county government. But the two offices were at odds over how to divide up that work.
Issue 13 represents a compromise. Under the amendment, the law department would handle:
- Legal advice to county government, boards and commissions
- Labor negotiations
- Employment issues that aren’t being litigated in court
- Public records requests
- Risk management
- Contracts, debt issuances and purchase orders
The amendment would not limit the prosecutor’s powers, which include representing county government in court. The law department would need a referral from the prosecutor in order to represent the county in the courtroom.
The measure wouldn’t prohibit County Council, the executive or other parts of government from seeking legal advice from the prosecutor’s office.
Issue 14: Giving County Council seats on the Charter Review Commission
This amendment changes how county government appoints people to the Charter Review Commission. The commission meets every 10 years to propose changes to the structure of county government. Its next session is scheduled to begin in 2027.
Issue 14 would allow County Council to appoint four members to the nine-member commission. The county executive would appoint four others. Council and the executive would jointly appoint one member. Currently, the county executive appoints members to the commission, subject to council confirmation.
Council Member Martin J. Sweeney, who proposed the amendment, called it a “rebalancing of the appointment process.”
Not on your ballot: RTA’s sales tax and the sheriff
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority plans to ask voters to raise the sales tax for public transportation. But that measure won’t be on ballots until 2027. RTA trustees have been debating whether to ask for more money in the May election or in November next year.
Cuyahoga County is also not asking voters to make any changes to how the sheriff is selected. County Council spent hours deliberating over whether to make the sheriff an elected job again. The proposal ultimately did not garner the votes needed to make it to the ballot.
For now, the sheriff will continue to serve as an appointee of the county executive. The idea may return when the county’s charter review committee convenes in the coming years.
