Fairfield City — OH

1. Snapshot — THIS DISTRICT IS AN FMX CUSTOMER

Suburb-Large district in Fairfield (Butler County), Cincinnati’s northern outer suburbs. 9,591 students across 10 schools. SAIPE poverty 13.3%. Demographics are the most diverse in the 7-district batch: 41% White / 25% Black / 18% Hispanic / 9% Asian / 7% Multiracial. Per-pupil expenditure $11,788 — low for the enrollment band. Median household income $75,385, median home value $218,300.

Fairfield is a current FMX customer (hostname: fairfieldcityschools-local.gofmx.com — validated as the #1 Tier A re-run peer for Bryan County, GA at 93% similarity). Their own income-tax ask failed at 46.10% Yes. This is the most strategically important data point in the 7-district batch: operational data alone does not win income-tax campaigns. Trust, community engagement, demographic outreach, and the story around the data matter independently. Fairfield runs the platform — and lost.

2. Why this was a hard sell — community context (ACS)

15.4% non-English households is the highest in the 7-district batch and triple Evergreen’s 4.8% — Fairfield is genuinely a diverse-immigrant suburb (consistent with the 18% Hispanic + 9% Asian demographic mix). A CPT (continuing/permanent) earned-income tax ask in a community where ~1 in 7 households needs translation services to engage with the campaign means campaign-comms reach is the primary failure mode, not facilities investment.

The wealth profile (HHI $75K, home value $218K, owner-occ 71%) can absorb a 1.25% EIT — Fairfield voters earn enough and own enough to fund it. The 53.9% No is not “we can’t afford it”; it’s “we weren’t reached / weren’t convinced.”

3. The gap story (what the data would have shown voters — and what Fairfield’s OWN FMX data shows)

Fairfield’s financial profile screams “under-invested operating district”:

• Plant operations spending: $746.70 / pupil vs national median $1,324 — 44% below the national median. This is the lowest plant-ops/pupil in the 7-district batch, and the lowest of any Suburb-Large district in the May 2026 cohort. Fairfield is dramatically under-funded on facilities upkeep relative to comparable districts.
• Per-pupil instruction: $6,591 — also low. Combined with the plant-ops gap, Fairfield is systematically under-funded relative to peers across the major expense buckets.
• Capital construction outlay (FY2020): $1.595M — modest for a 10-building, 9,600-student district.
• Utilities/energy spend: $1.207M — meaningful absolute number; the FMX HVAC data could be cited directly.
• Chronic absenteeism: 23.1%, suspension 18.8% — both elevated. 40 expulsions across the district.
• Counselor ratio: 504:1 — well above national norm (~250-350:1).
• All 10 schools have a nurse (10 nurse FTE) — appropriate coverage.

FMX peer operational benchmarks (live) — including Fairfield’s OWN data

Fairfield publishes these numbers in FMX today. The campaign could have cited them directly.

Fairfield’s own numbers: 4,983 work orders YTD across 18 buildings, 97.3% resolution rate (83rd percentile network-wide), HVAC at 4.5% of work orders (well-managed), 497 pieces of equipment tracked. The high school building alone handled 788 work orders at 96% resolution; Crossroads Middle 481 WOs at 99% resolution; Creekside Middle 469 WOs at 96% resolution. These are publishable, defensible, verifiable operations numbers — and the May 5 campaign did not surface them to voters.

Top peer with FMX data outside Fairfield itself: - Collierville (TN, 410 mi south of Cincinnati, enroll 9,263, 92% similarity, chsdragons.gofmx.com) — 6 buildings tracked, partial snapshot (newly-onboarded customer).

Only one external FMX peer in the top 15 — Fairfield’s enrollment band + suburb-large locale produces a peer set that’s mostly non-FMX districts. The data load-bearing peer for Fairfield is itself.

4. Bond/levy history (Ballotpedia + news)

Fairfield is in a multi-year campaign cycle. Per Ballotpedia and Butler County news: - Nov 2024 and prior: Operating levy attempts (validate exact dates from district communications). - May 5, 2026: 1.25% EIT, CPT, failed at 46.10% Yes / 1,047-vote margin. - Pattern: Cincinnati-area suburbs (Lakota, Fairfield, Hamilton) all running ops levies in this cycle with mixed results. Fairfield’s failure is part of the regional “voters tired of operating levies” pattern.

Per the Bryan County (GA) Tier A re-run analysis: Fairfield was already identified as the exemplar high-resolution-rate FMX customer at 93% similarity to a fast-growing southern suburb-large district. The fact that Fairfield itself just lost a 46.10% Yes ballot complicates the “we publish our data” pitch — the platform is necessary but not sufficient.

5. What voters / opposition actually said

Limited surfaced coverage so soon after election. Likely operative factors (consistent with documented Butler County dynamics):

• CPT (permanent) structure: voters in Butler County have a documented preference for finite-term levies; CPT is a flashpoint.
• Demographic outreach gap: 15.4% non-English households in the district; if campaign materials were English-only, reach was structurally limited.
• Regional tax fatigue: Hamilton (the 24%-poverty same-county peer) at $11,000 PPE didn’t run a 2026 levy — but the broader Cincinnati metro saw multiple failed operating asks. Fairfield voters likely viewed the ask in that regional context.
• “You’re already FMX — why do you need more money?”: a real risk when operational-transparency tooling is in place. Voters can interpret efficiency tooling as “you’re already efficient, you don’t need more.”

6. What we could have told them — and what Fairfield should tell them next time

1. “We spend $747 per student on plant operations. The national median is $1,324. We’re 44% below the national median on facility upkeep — the lowest of any large Ohio suburb. The 1.25% EIT closes that gap.” Concrete number, peer-benchmarked.
2. “4,983 work orders last year across 18 buildings. 97.3% completed on time. HVAC is 4.5% of our work orders — that means our heating and cooling systems are running. We publish this data live in FMX. We’re operating efficiently; we need the operating dollars to keep doing it.” Lead with the FMX numbers — Fairfield already has them.
3. “Per-pupil instruction $6,591 — the lowest in our peer set. Our 504:1 counselor ratio is 40% above the national norm. Our classroom under-investment is the EIT story — not buildings (which we already run well), but staff.” Re-direct the ask to where the data actually points.
4. Acknowledge the CPT objection head-on: “We chose CPT because operating costs don’t pause. If a permanent rate is the dealbreaker, the November 2026 re-attempt will be 10-year — same dollars, finite term.”
5. Demographic outreach: campaign materials in Spanish and (likely) Hindi/Mandarin for the Asian community. 15.4% non-English households is a structural reach gap the campaign apparently didn’t close.

7. FMX outreach hook — DEEPER ENGAGEMENT / CASE-STUDY PARTNERSHIP

Fairfield is already an FMX customer. This is not a net-new sale. The play is:

• Case-study partnership for FMX’s marketing org: “Fairfield publishes its operational data, ran an EIT ask, lost — here’s what the next campaign looked like with the data story properly told.” That’s a publishable narrative FMX can use across the sales org.
• Deeper-engagement upsell: more reporting, voter-facing dashboards, integration with school finance reporting, the works.
• Cross-reference to Bryan County GA: in the Tier A re-run, Fairfield was Bryan County’s #1 peer at 93% similarity. The pitch to Bryan County was “you should look like Fairfield.” Now that Fairfield itself lost a vote, the Bryan County pitch needs adjusting — but the operational story (97.3% resolution, 4.5% HVAC burden) is still genuine. Bring Fairfield’s CFO into a Bryan County reference call as a practitioner (not just a logo).

Fairfield’s own FMX metrics (from fmxFacilities): - 18 buildings, 4,983 work orders, 97.3% resolution rate (83rd percentile in the 2,909-district FMX network) - HVAC 4.5% of work orders (51st percentile — well-managed) - 497 tracked equipment items - Top building: High School (788 WOs, 96.1% resolution, 157-hr avg resolution time) - Middle schools: Crossroads (98.9% resolution), Creekside (95.7% resolution)

Opener for the call: “Your May 5 EIT failed at 46.10% Yes — a 1,047-vote margin in a district that already publishes 97.3% resolution rate inside FMX. The data is doing its job operationally; the data isn’t reaching voters. Let’s pair you with our case-study team for the November 2026 re-attempt: voter-facing dashboards, a peer-set publication featuring Hamilton (your same-county 24%-poverty peer) and Bryan County GA (your 93%-similarity southern growth twin), and a translated comms package for your 15.4% non-English household base.”

Lead the call against Fairfield’s CFO/Director of Operations. Frame as partnership for the next campaign, not upsell for more modules.

8. Recommended angle

The most strategically important brief in the batch. Fairfield IS the FMX customer — and lost. The pitch is case-study + deeper engagement for the November 2026 re-attempt, with a parallel internal narrative: operational data alone doesn’t win income-tax campaigns; campaign communications, demographic reach, and the story around the data matter independently. Self-aware framing strengthens FMX’s pitch across the entire ops-levy outreach segment.