It’s school-levy déjà vu all over again, thanks to Ohio’s inefficient system

BY EILEEN BRADY
​THE NEWS JOURNAL OF WILMINGTON, OHIO

“Levy” must be Latin for “headache.”
The proposed 8-mill levy for Wilmington City Schools is a headache for taxpayers who have to pay for it, school employees and students who rely on it, school board members who try to sell it to the public, and anyone like me who struggles to comprehend its implications.
I’ve been trying to educate myself about the issues, and although I can’t claim a complete understanding of the Wilmington levy, or Ohio’s unconstitutional need for levies, or the fairness to a community still in the throes of a jobs crisis, I certainly do have a complete headache.
The first pains came as I read through the pages of comments on the News Journal’s story after the schools decided Jan. 14 to place a levy on the May ballot. The levy was described, among other things, as a money grab, an unfair burden on farmers and a misuse of money. A few folks, however, said that the relatively low increase is a small price to pay for education.
The overall indignity

indicates that the levy will be a tough sell. Back in November, 62 of Ohio’s 88 counties had levies requesting “new money” on the ballot. Most did not fare well. Howard Fleeter of the Education Tax Policy Institute has said that new levies pass at a rate of only 43 percent. 

Not many people are thrilled about paying more taxes, especially within a broken system, but I guess I’ve always thought that the American offering of universal education is a huge part of what makes our country both generous and self-preserving. 
I have East Coast friends who pay $20,000 a year for private schools for each of their elementary-age children (while paying hefty property taxes to boot), so I feel extra grateful for the quality public education my daughter receives in Ohio for a smidgen of that cost. 
And the fact is the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled four times that the state’s system of funding school districts is unfair — and unconstitutional — because it does not provide a “thorough and efficient system of education.”
I understand the frustration of feeling as if you’re being asked to lighten your wallet again and again. In fact, the unending parade of levies is not in your imagination. There have been more than 10,000 levies statewide since 1975.
There is no other state in the union that votes as often on levies as we do in Ohio, which is something I learned while reading the July testimony of Howard Fleeter to the Ohio House Finance Extended Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education. (You need two Tylenol just to get through the committee’s name.) 
Fleeter told the house subcommittee that House Bill 920’s limitation of tax increases tied to property value increases is complicated and that “slow growth in property taxes means that schools cannot keep pace with inflation or other pressures to increase school budgets without obtaining voter approval for new tax levies.”
It also means that voters in school districts such as Wilmington’s, where unemployment is high and individual property values are low (the median value of owner-occupied homes is $112,800, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data), have an extra hard time agreeing to pay higher tax rates. 
In Wilmington, 46 percent of our district’s budget comes from the state; the rest comes from property taxes and Wilmington’s school income tax, as well as a small amount of federal funds.
In well-to-do school districts such as Sycamore or Indian Hill, the state contributes zero dollars; the budgets are generated solely from local property taxes.
Even with the current income tax included, Wilmington City Schools ranks in the middle of 26 area districts in financial support from residents, according to Wilmington resident Paul Hunter, who compiled the data from surrounding schools and lobbied for the most recent school renewal levy in 2008. Wilmington’s cost per student ($8,136) is lower than the state average of $10,562 but right in line with the other Clinton County schools. 
For the median home value of $112,800, the 8-mill levy would mean $276 additional taxes annually, which is about 75 cents a day. For senior homeowners, who receive homestead exemptions, the levy would mean an additional $215.12 a year.
It is extremely hard to persuade people to spend additional money, especially when they are able to speak with their ballots to protect their wallets. What seems like a small amount to one person may feel like a huge burden to another.
Gov. John Kasich was scheduled Thursday unveil his new education plan, in which he was expected to create a $300 million “innovation fund” and to seek expansion of tax-funded tuition vouchers. 
He could also potentially align the state with the Ohio Supreme Court’s rule to follow the constitutional mandate. He would be the Ohio fourth governor to try.