East-side homeowners will see a new line on their property tax bills if Cincinnati Public Schools' levy passes in November.

The CPS Board of Education voted 5-1 August 3, to place a five-year, 7-mill property tax levy on the November ballot, minutes after voting 6-1 to rescind the 0.75% earned income tax it had approved just one week earlier. Board member Kendra Mapp cast the lone "no" on both votes. Board Vice President Dr. Kareem Moncree-Moffett abstained from the property tax vote after supporting the rescission.

For a Hyde Park home assessed at $300,000, the levy would add roughly $735 per year. A $200,000 Oakley home would owe about $490 more annually. The property tax is projected to generate more than $66 million a year for the district, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, about $8 million less than the income tax would have raised.

The reversal caps a chaotic week. On July 27, the board voted 5-2 to put the income tax on the ballot, with members Eve Bolton and Ben Lindy dissenting. Bipartisan backlash followed: the Hamilton County Democratic Party executive committee voted 50-23 urging the board to reconsider, the Hamilton County Republican Party released a statement opposing it, and Mayor Aftab Pureval publicly called on CPS to withdraw the measure.

Board President Brandon Craig told reporters after the August 3 vote that community concerns, not party pressure, drove the reversal.

"It's about understanding there's a community of folks who ... have raised concerns about the earned income tax," Craig said.

The meeting itself was tense. Members of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers held posters criticizing the board, and audience members shouted for Mapp to resign. The board described the week between votes as one of "chaos" and "confusion."

CPS faces a projected $58.6 million budget deficit. In June, the board approved cuts eliminating more than 100 positions, including 81 central office workers, 12 social workers, 10 assistant principals, and eight counselors, plus five mandatory unpaid days for teachers and staff. The district has not secured new operating revenue since a 2008 levy.

At the July 27 meeting, Dr. Moncree-Moffett warned the district lacked a clear spending plan. "We have not provided the public with a sufficiently specific measurable plan explaining how levy proceeds will be allocated," he said at the time, according to WCPO.

The district says the levy would protect programs at east-side schools including Clark Montessori and Kilgour Elementary, covering magnet and Montessori options, arts, athletics, enrichment, and transportation.

The board filed the property tax with Hamilton County ahead of the ballot-issue filing deadline. Voters will decide on November 3.