BLANCHESTER — School board members have decided to again attempt an income tax levy.

At Thursday’s Blanchester Local Schools board meeting, members agreed they will proceed with placing an income tax on the November ballot, similar to the recently failed 1.25% income tax levy.

Superintendent Randy Dunlap told members the wording of the levy will be sent to the school’s legal counsel for approval.

“We would need to have a first reading at a special meeting in July, then a second reading at the very end of July or the first week of August,” Dunlap said about placing it on the November ballot.

He told the News Journal the school district had to make significant cuts, including having class sizes be at the state minimum level this year.

“We hope people will recognize that it’s for the kids, and we’ll be doing good things with their dollars,” said Dunlap.

Boardmembers Jeremy Kaehler and Kathy Gephart advised at the meeting they’d like to see a similar levy to the one that failed in May.

“We did have a lot of positivity come out of (the previous levy),” said Kaehler. “I know it failed; I think if we had a little more time and a little more effort … we can take care of it.”

On the previous levy try, 51.3% of Clinton Countians voted against it and 48.7% voted in favor of it. In the Clermont County portion of the district, the levy failed with 163 votes against and 90 for; and the vote was 29-29 in Warren County.

The levy was for 1.25% of the earned income of “individuals residing in the school district for (six) years” and would’ve been used for expenses and improvements.

Kaehler said he felt “switching gears” to a property tax may not be the best option since they had spent “so much time educating” residents on what the income tax entailed.

Dunlap added that with an income tax levy, the amount could be lowered, but some members didn’t like that idea.

“Let’s go for what we need,” said Kaehler.