How Much Is the Westerville School District Income Tax? 0.75%

There's a new tax line in Westerville. Voters approved a 0.75 percent earned income tax for the Westerville City School District in November 2025, it took effect January 1, 2026, and if you are buying in the district or already own there, it belongs in your budget math next to the property tax.

Below is the breakdown I give clients. It covers who pays, what it costs at everyday income levels, how it stacks up against property taxes in the districts around it and why the district went this route.

What is the 0.75% Westerville school district income tax?

It is a school district income tax, not a property tax. The rate is 0.75 percent, and it applies only to earned income for people who live in the district. Per the district's ballot issue page, that means wages and salaries reported on your W-2 and net self-employment income for sole proprietors and partnerships.

What it does not touch, according to the district, is retirement income such as Social Security, pensions or 401(k) distributions, interest and dividends, capital gains or unemployment benefits. If your household income in retirement comes entirely from those sources, you do not owe this tax on it.

The Ohio Department of Taxation's 2026 school district list shows Westerville CSD, district number 2514, as a new district effective January 1, 2026, at 0.75 percent, covering Franklin and Delaware counties, flagged as an "alternative earned income only tax." The district confirms it is a continuing levy. It does not expire on a set date and stays in place unless voters later change it.

How much does it cost at typical income levels?

The math is simple. 0.75 percent is 75 cents on every $100 of earned income, and it is based on what you earn, not what your house is worth.

Household earned income	Yearly school income tax	Monthly equivalent
$40,000	$300.00	$25.00
$59,000 (district's cited median income)	$442.50	$36.88
$75,000	$562.50	$46.88
$100,000	$750.00	$62.50
$150,000	$1,125.00	$93.75
$200,000	$1,500.00	$125.00

Source: 0.75 percent rate from the Ohio Department of Taxation 2026 school district list; $59,000, $75,000 and $100,000 examples match the district's published estimates. Other rows are the same rate applied to the income shown. Your actual amount depends on your earned income; check with your tax preparer.

Because it follows income and not price, two buyers looking at the same $500,000 house can owe very different amounts. A retired couple living on pensions owes nothing. A dual-income household with $200,000 in wages owes $1,500. A $400,000 house and an $800,000 house cost the same $750 for a household earning $100,000.

How does it compare with property taxes in nearby districts?

This is where people get tripped up. The school income tax adds up, but it is usually the smaller of the two school-funding costs on a Westerville home. I run both for every buyer comparing districts. These are 2026 sales with a 2025 tax bill on the listing.

School district	2026 sales with a 2025 tax bill	Median sale price	Median annual property tax	Median tax as % of price	2026 school district income tax
Westerville City (Franklin County part)	201	$400,000	$6,284	1.52%	0.75%, earned income only
Westerville City (Delaware County part)	116	$562,600	$8,058	1.43%	0.75%, earned income only
Olentangy Local	524	$640,280	$9,516	1.49%	None
Worthington City	153	$515,000	$8,668	1.71%	None
Big Walnut Local	159	$582,900	$6,180	1.08%	0.75%, traditional base
Gahanna-Jefferson	130	$505,000	$8,008	1.60%	None
New Albany-Plain Local	83	$725,000	$11,705	1.57%	None
Columbus City	984	$302,275	$3,553	1.22%	None

Source: Columbus REALTORS MLS, single family closings January 1 to September 21, 2026 with a tax year 2025 bill on the listing, deduplicated by listing number, sales under $40,000 or 400 sq ft excluded. Rate is each sale's annual tax divided by its sale price, then medianed. Income tax column from the Ohio Department of Taxation 2026 school district list; "None" means the district is not on the state's list. Medians reflect the mix of homes that sold, not the districts themselves.

Put the two together on a median Franklin County side home in the Westerville district. A $6,284 property tax bill plus $750 of school income tax at $100,000 of wages comes to $7,034 a year, about $586 a month. On the Delaware County side, $8,058 plus $750 is $8,808, about $734 a month. The property tax is still more than 85 percent of the total in both cases.

The income tax matters most for higher-earning households comparing the Delaware County side of the Westerville district with Olentangy next door. Take a household with $150,000 in wages. At the Westerville district's Delaware County median, the property tax of $8,058 plus $1,125 of school income tax comes to $9,183 a year. At the Olentangy median, the property tax alone is $9,516 with no school income tax. Those medians describe different mixes of homes, so they are not a like-for-like quote, but they show the income tax narrows the gap rather than flipping it. For a specific pair of houses, I pull both parcels' actual tax bills and run them side by side, because at a 1.5 percent effective rate, a $50,000 difference in price moves the property tax by about $750, the same as the whole income tax bill for a household earning $100,000.

Two notes on that table. Big Walnut's 0.75 percent uses the state's traditional tax base, which is a different calculation from Westerville's earned-income-only base, so the same household can owe different amounts in each. And the Westerville district crosses county lines, so the Delaware County part carries a different tax rate and a different typical price than the Franklin County part. My Westerville property tax guide and the Columbus property taxes by ZIP code post go deeper on the property tax side.

Why did the district choose an income tax instead of a property levy?

Context matters here. In November 2024, voters in the district rejected a 4.9-mill operating levy and a bond issue that would have renovated four schools, per WOSU. Both would have raised property taxes. After those failed, the district eliminated 33 teaching, administrative and support positions and made $4.8 million in operational cuts.

In July 2025, the school board voted unanimously to put the 0.75 percent earned income tax on the November ballot. The district estimated it would bring in $24.3 million a year to preserve staffing levels, class sizes and academic programs. District leaders said that without new revenue they would cut more than 100 teaching and specialist positions.

On November 4, 2025, it passed by roughly two to one in Franklin County and with about 57 percent in Delaware County on unofficial results, according to WOSU. Because the tax skips retirement income, residents living on Social Security or pensions do not pay it on that income.

How do you pay it?

If you work for an employer, the cleanest route is withholding. The district asks residents to make sure their employer has an Ohio IT 4 form on file listing Westerville City School District, number 2514. You then report it on the Ohio school district income tax return, the SD 100. Residents 65 or older who have earned income can claim a $50 credit on the SD 100, per the district.

If you are not sure which district an address is in, look it up on the state's Ohio Tax Finder rather than going by the mailing address. That matters more than people think. In 2026, single family homes with a Westerville mailing address sold in six different school districts. My post on a Westerville address versus Westerville City Schools shows how often those two do not line up.

What does this mean if you are buying in the Westerville district?

This tax is a line item. For working-age buyers, it sits alongside your mortgage payment, homeowner's insurance, city income tax and property taxes. When you compare Westerville against nearby districts, it is one more variable to run, and the table above shows it is usually not the biggest one.

Budget impact varies by income, not property price. Two homes at the same price, one inside the district boundary and one just outside, can have identical mortgage payments but different total monthly costs depending on the household's wages. Confirm the district for the exact parcel with the Franklin or Delaware County auditor or the Tax Finder. District boundaries do not always follow what you would expect from a map.

The tax funds operations, not buildings. The district has been explicit that this money is for staffing, class sizes and programs. The renovation bond that failed in 2024 is a separate question, so do not assume building projects are covered.

Stable funding and demand tend to travel together. I am not making a political argument for or against the tax. In my experience, districts that keep stable, predictable funding hold buyer demand better than districts cycling through cuts. The mechanics of how a school levy moves home prices are worth understanding before you weigh districts.

How do you run the numbers for your own situation?

I start with the property tax on the specific parcel, pulled from the county auditor rather than the listing estimate alone. Then I multiply the household's earned income by 0.0075, and I ask whether anyone in the household is retired and living on exempt income. Add the property tax and the income tax together. That is your total annual school-funding cost for that address, and it is the number to compare against a house in Olentangy, Worthington or Big Walnut.

If you are shopping in Westerville or have an address in mind, I can build that total monthly picture with you, including property tax, this income tax at your income level and how the address compares to nearby options. Book a time through my Calendly or call me at 937-239-2919.

Adam Geuy, Realtor - Blacktree Realty ABR | PSA | SRS | License #2020007964

I run this into the budget with every Westerville buyer now, because it does not show up on the property tax estimate and it surprises people at filing time.