A group opposed to the 6-mill Cincinnati Public Schools levy plans to run radio ads against the new tax.

        The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) plans radio spots as well as appearances at community forums in the last days before Election Day, said Tom Brinkman, the group's founder.

        Mr. Brinkman, also a Republican candidate for state representative in the 37th District, would not say which radio stations would air the ads, or how much money his group had raised.

        “We have to keep them guessing,” Mr. Brinkman said. “If we don't wait till the last minute, there's no fun to it.”

        The group championing the levy is ready to counter COAST's claims, said Brewster Rhoads, campaign director for Cincinnatians Active to Support Education (CASE).

        A second pro-levy television ad, paid for by CASE, began airing Tuesday. Citizens also will encounter radio ads, mailings, inserts in local newspapers, and rallies on Fountain Square this week.

        “We're working hard to get the message out,” Mr. Rhoads said.

        The radio ads from COAST will be “hard-hitting and very factual,” Mr. Brinkman said.

        The 6-mill levy would raise $35.8 million a year for four years. If passed, the levyIt would mean $175 in new taxes on a home with a

        market value of $100,000.

        The school district would use the new money to keep pace with inflation, for smaller classes, for building maintenance and to increase funding for neighborhood schools.

        CASE has raised $800,000 in its levy campaign and will spend at least $255,000 on television and radio ads. The group also will spend at least $44,000 on mailings and promotional materials. The majority of donations to CASE come from the Tristate business community.

        COAST's fund raising is much less.

        In previous levy cam paigns, COAST spent just about $10,000 on radio ads. The bulk of that money came from a group of Tristate apartment owners.

        Mr. Rhoads said it is outrageous that “greedy absentee landlords spend money to defeat our school levy. Every citizen ought to be jumping mad that landlords are going out of their way to deny Cincinnati kids the same education their children receive in the suburbs where they live.”

        Mr. Brinkman said COAST is opposed to the levy because it is excessive.

        “They are asking for three times the rate of inflation, and that's too much,” Mr. Brinkman said. “The levy rate is too high.”

Voter registration at record peak
Anglican primate to visit Cincinnati
Another teen dies on Tristate road
'How's my driving?' stickers for teens
Time to study hard, but life gets in the way
Band answers school's wish
Deal frees OTR property for fix-up
Fire damage could hit $1M
Golden Lamb says street work could force it to close
Killer's hospital status debated
Ads play in swing states
Anti-tax group targets CPS levy
CROWLEY: Stumping the public access way
Piper calls ads dirty politics
Westwood says ad by Henson is false
Too many pets invokes penalty
Blackout hits Warren, Butler
Cops take to bikes in Fairfield Twp.
Covington mosaic goes on display
Detente night offered candidates
Ex-reporter could testify in '63 slaying
Medicaid reinstated for 150,000 Ohioans
More expected to seek heating aid
Princeton teachers' union ratifies contract
Thieves target Springboro schools
Widow describes hearing shots
Regional air traffic snarled by blackout
Kentucky digest
Lieutenant governor's son arrested
Local digest
Ohio State Patrol fires assistant area commander
Patton: Don't attack coal industry over spill
Roadblocks hinder media in area of sludge spill
Son charged with killing mother