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Athens income tax increase is now official after the final vote count

By: David Forster
Posted on: Wednesday, May 20, 2026

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — People who live or work in the city of Athens will be paying higher income taxes next year now that the final votes have been counted from the election two weeks ago.

The two-tenths of a percent increase passed by 10 votes, 993 to 983. When the votes were counted on Election Day, the tax increase was ahead by eight votes. However, there were more than 40 provisional ballots cast in the city of Athens.

Ballots are deemed provisional when there is some kind of issue that prevents them from being counted right away.

For example, someone may have moved and did not update their address on their voter registration, so when they went to vote there was an address mismatch. Or they may have changed their name, perhaps because of a marriage or divorce, and did not update their registration.

The Athens County Board of Elections decided to count 43 of the provisional ballots cast in the city, and the final tally was certified Wednesday afternoon.

The 10-vote win was just enough to avoid an automatic recount. Someone could still request a recount but would have to pay for it.

The tax increase will take effect next year. This means someone earning $30,000 a year will pay an additional $60 a year and someone earning $60,000 will pay an additional $120.

City leaders said the tax increase was needed to offset rising expenses, particularly healthcare costs. The city first proposed a three-tenths increase on the ballot last May, but that failed by a significant margin.

The city has since made budget cuts, offered an early retirement program and imposed a soft hiring freeze to help bring expenses into alignment with revenue. City leaders warned that without additional income tax revenue, they might have to impose a hard hiring freeze and scale back some city services.