Greater Cleveland RTA (GCRTA) is looking real broke right now. A second round of service cuts have been postponed but unless something changes RTA will continue to bleed money and we could be looking at having less frequent service with less coverage and less span of service. 

At the September 22, 2026 board meeting, the board postponed finalizing the tax increase while seeking more financial information and broader community support. The board discussed May and November 2027 as possible election dates, with staff continuing to recommend a May election and a 0.5-percentage-point increase. The board planned to revisit the rate no later than its November 2026 meeting.

According to their proposed 2027 budget, over 80% of GCRTA’s revenue ($357.1 million) comes from sales and use taxes collected in Cuyahoga County. These taxes apply to many goods and taxable purchases, but not everything we spend money on. For example, most groceries, prescription medications, and many services are exempt. About 9% of GCRTA’s revenue comes from passenger fares, while roughly 8% is being pulled from reserve funds. So yes, GCRTA is having to dip into its rainy-day fund just to stay afloat.

How do we get away from cutting service and pulling money from reserves and back on track to faster, reliable, and connective service? A levy. 

A levy is essentially a tax that voters are being asked to approve. The current sales tax rate is 8% with 1% going to GCRTA and GCRTA is needing to ask for an increase of up to 0.5 percentage-points as the max they can receive currently is 1.5%. 

GCRTA is having to make this ask because the money coming in right now is not sustainable long-term. Remember they’re bleeding money from the Reserve Fund! Furthermore they’ve already made budget cuts, it’s simply not enough.

Cuyahoga County’s 1% sales tax dedicated to GCRTA dates back to 1975. 1975! The tax is old enough to be someone’s grandparent. If a levy is passed, that new pair of shoes might cost a little bit more but your $5 daily pass won’t have to change. And a lot has changed since 1975 including Cuyahoga County’s population which affects the amount of tax money received.

In July 2026, GCRTA’s board agreed to ask voters to approve a sales tax increase. The final amount of the increase is still to be determined. As told by GCRTA staff at Clevelanders for Public Transit’s August Rider’s meeting, the board is discussing whether the increase should be 0.25 or 0.5 percentage-points.

At the September 22, 2026 board meeting, trustees still had not agreed on how much of a sales tax increase to ask voters to approve. GCRTA staff continued to recommend a 0.5-percentage-point increase, but board members wanted more financial information and broader community support before making a final decision. The board set a tentative deadline of November 17, 2026, to decide on the amount.

 

Here’s a breakdown:

• Current GCRTA tax: 1%
• Potential increase: 0.5 percentage-points
• Maximum proposed rate: 1.5%
• A 0.5 percentage-point increase means 50 cents for every $100 of taxable purchases.

At its September meeting, GCRTA staff continued to recommend a 0.5-percentage-point increase, but the board had not settled on a final rate. CEO India Birdsong Terry said staff had completed roughly 40 of about 70 planned stakeholder conversations. The agency was seeking broader support from Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, businesses, and community organizations before finalizing its proposal.

 

What if the levy fails?

If the levy doesn’t pass, a simple yet unwanted solution is to just reduce service even more. As mentioned before, GCRTA has delayed a second round of service cuts but that’s only until the May 2027 election.

So the question is whether voters are willing to pay more in sales tax to give GCRTA a more sustainable source of funding. Additional revenue could help maintain existing service and support improvements, but the final tax rate, spending plan, and specific service commitments still need to be established. Voters deserve to know not only how much the levy could raise, but what GCRTA intends to deliver with that money.

Potential funding uses discussed by GCRTA include:

• maintaining existing service
• increasing frequency on major corridors
• adding or expanding routes
• improving bus stops and shelters
• improving passenger information
• expanding access to jobs and housing
• improving paratransit availability as regular service expands
• continuing infrastructure and fleet improvements.

With a 0.25 percentage-point increase GCRTA estimates $70 million more per year and double that with the .5 percentage-point increase as said in the June 16th, 2026 board meeting. These are GCRTA estimates presented at an earlier board meeting, not final revenue figures or guarantees. 

Here’s what the proposed tax levy passing could mean for you:

• Regular riders: Ideally more frequent buses depending on the outcome.
• Occasional riders: Slightly higher sales tax on taxable purchases.
• Non-riders: You’re still paying the sales tax, but you may benefit indirectly through transportation access, workers getting to jobs, less congestion, etc.
• Business owners: Transit affects employees’ ability to get to work and customers’ ability to reach businesses.
• Non-drivers: Transit service can directly determine whether jobs, education, healthcare, shopping, and other necessities are accessible.

TBD: What we don’t know

• Exact tax increase
• Final ballot language
• Exact spending plan
• Exact service improvements
• What specific routes/frequencies would change
• What the final financial projections will look like
• What happens after the initial funding period

Accountability matters, too. During public comment, a resident criticized past route changes and service decisions, arguing that some contributed to budget problems and later cuts. These were the resident’s claims, not independently established findings. As the levy proposal develops, riders should look for clear financial projections, a transparent spending plan, and measurable commitments about service improvements.