The Supreme Court of Ohio has dismissed a legal challenge to Avon Lake's proposed municipal income-tax increase, leaving the question to voters on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The court issued the decision in its case announcements dated Oct. 4, 2026. The case, styled State ex rel. Avon Lake Committee for the Citizens & Electors Right to Vote on City Income-Tax Increases v. Rosmarin, was brought by a citizens committee that wanted voters to have a direct say on city income-tax increases.
The justices denied the committee's request for an emergency writ and dismissed the case on the court's own motion as moot. Chief Justice Kennedy and Justices Fischer, DeWine, Deters, Hawkins and Shanahan joined the decision. Justice Brunner partly concurred and partly dissented, writing that she would have approved the committee's cash deposit for court costs and awarded the committee its costs under state law.
The dispute centered on Avon Lake City Council's decision to place a 0.40-percent additional municipal income tax on the Nov. 3 ballot through Resolution 26-70. The proposal would raise the city's income-tax rate from 1.50 percent to 1.90 percent, with the revenue earmarked for streets and storm sewers.
With the challenge dismissed, the ballot question stands as council placed it, and Avon Lake voters will decide the tax's fate on Election Day. Avon Lake is in Lorain County in northeast Ohio.
The court's dismissal came in an opinion without full written analysis, a common practice for emergency-election matters decided close to a voting deadline.
— NewsForce Staff