A yard sign for the Cleveland school levy, Issue 49, on Euclid Avenue just outside downtown.
A yard sign for the Cleveland school levy, Issue 49, on Euclid Avenue just outside downtown, on October 24, 2024. Credit: Nick Castele / Signal Cleveland

Backers of a property tax increase for Cleveland schools have put $1 million into the campaign for Issue 49 this year. 

The levy’s campaign committee, Citizens for Our Children’s Future, raised about $990,000 since the start of July, according to a financial disclosure filed Thursday with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. 

Including the amount raised previously, the campaign had $1.1 million to spend on the levy effort. That puts it on par with the 2020 school levy campaign and below the $1.7 million 2012 campaign. 

The levy, which appears on ballots as Issue 49, will fund school operations and issue bonds for CMSD buildings. It will cost an estimated $300 per $100,000 of property valuation. 

The levy campaign spent about $722,000 between July and mid-October, leaving almost $380,000 on hand for the final stretch of the campaign. 

🗳️For more on this year’s November election, visit our Election Signals 2024 page.

Foundations, sports teams, nonprofits and corporations make big donations

Citizens for Our Children’s Future tapped major corporations, professional sports teams, labor unions, foundations and Cleveland Metropolitan School District leadership for funding. 

The largest contributor was the Cleveland Foundation, which gave $300,000. The second-largest donation in this fundraising period came from Friends of Breakthrough Schools. The advocacy arm of the public charter school network gave $125,000. 

The Cleveland Browns, which last week announced an intent to build a new stadium in Brook Park, gave $30,000 to the campaign. As homeowners in Bratenahl, team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam pay property taxes toward CMSD. The Haslams are also major supporters of Breakthrough schools. 

The Guardians also gave $30,000. That wasn’t the team’s only form of support. Left fielder Steven Kwan appeared in a video ad for the levy. The Cavaliers, Rock Holdings and Bedrock – all owned by Detroit’s Dan Gilbert – split a $40,000 donation three ways. 

Other large companies, nonprofits and philanthropies also made five-figure gifts to the campaign. The Mandel Foundation contributed $50,000 and Eaton Corporation gave $30,000. 

Other contributors include:

  • $25,000: Cleveland Clinic, KeyBank, MinuteMen Staffing, James B. Oswald Company and the United Way of Greater Cleveland
  • $20,000: RPM International
  • $15,000: Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Destination Cleveland and law firms Benesch and Squire Patton Boggs
  • $10,000: Sherwin-Williams, Cleveland-Cliffs, the NRP Group and the Greater Cleveland Partnership

Assembly for Action – the pro-Issue 55 campaign that is seeking to raise a cigarette tax to fund the arts – gave $10,000 to the school levy effort. 

Mayor Justin Bibb gave $14,000 from his campaign committee. Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne’s campaign gave $1,500. School CEO Warren Morgan contributed $1,750 and CMSD board chair Sara Elaqad gave $1,000. Other board members also contributed. 

The campaign’s largest expense was a $310,000 ad buy through consultant Burges and Burges. The levy effort spent nearly $150,000 on postage for mailers.

The Cleveland Foundation supports Signal Cleveland.

Government Reporter
I follow how decisions made at Cleveland City Hall and Cuyahoga County headquarters ripple into the neighborhoods. I keep an eye on the power brokers and political organizers who shape our government. I am a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and have covered politics and government in Northeast Ohio since 2012.