ELECTION DAY: Voters Appear Split on Issue 1 By Midday

By noon, Shaker Heights voters seemed evenly split on how they voted on Issue 1, the city's proposed 0.5 percent .

Here's a sample of what a few residents had to say:

Molly Ritts, voter at Mercer Elementary School against Issue 1: "It was a tough decision, but I had to vote against it. It's a huge increase … I love Shaker, but people are leaving. All my friends are leaving the city, everyone's going to Chagrin (Falls) and Bainbridge."

Dan Frericks, voter at Mercer Elementary School against Issue 1: "My big reason for voting against was the fact that they were asking for $6 million, but the estate tax has only been averaging $3 million. They had two big years because of (deceased billionaire and former Cleveland Browns owner) Al Lerner, but after that it's only been $3 million."

Karen Yusko, voter at who supported Issue 1: "I feel like they have honestly made cuts. I don't want to pay more money either. I just think we would be a lot worse off (without the tax increase)."

Renee Boykin, voter at Shaker Middle School who supported Issue 1: "Police and fire were the biggest factors for me. You never want to vote for a tax increase, but you have to do what you have to do sometimes."

Visit Shaker Heights Patch throughout the day for more updates and tonight for election results. Follow us  on Twitter and 'Like' us on Facebook for news on today's election!