WHILE OHIO SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES STARVE

NEW: 
First That

Gov. John Kasich has in the past told voters not to support support local school levies.:

Then This

Kasich: City schools need levy to pass

TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013 07:41 AM http://www.dispatch.com/

With about 100 protesters chanting outside, Gov. John Kasich signed into law yesterday a bill that requires Columbus City Schools to place a tax levy on the ballot in November that would raise money for both district and charter schools. The law also creates an independent district auditor and gives the Columbus mayor the power to sponsor charters.

Ohio’s rainy-day account nearly triples to record amount.

Less of the money we send to Columbus is coming back to us for education and development.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/07/12/rainy-day-account-nearly-triples.html

Ohio now has a record $1.48 billion in its rainy-day fund following Gov. John Kasich’s authorized transfer of $995.9 million into that account.

The state actually ended the fiscal year on June 30 with a surplus of more than $2 billion, but the rest is being used to cover coming tax cuts. The state is allowed keep no more than 5 percent of the prior year’s general-revenue fund in the rainy-day fund, or about $1.48 billion.

A MESSAGE ON TAX LEVIES from our representatives

As part of a bigger program of tax cuts, the budget removes a state subsidy for local school levies. The state used to pick of 12.5 percent of the cost of new or replacement levies from its general fund, which is mostly sales- and income-tax revenue.

That pick-up is going away. Without the state subsidy, supporters say, the full cost of local levies will become more transparent but that will likely make it harder for districts to sell voters on approving levies.

That’s just fine with some leading Republicans.

Gov. John Kasich has in the past told voters not to support local school levies. And last week, Senate President Keith Faber had a similar message:

“If you want to know what my message is from the property-tax adjustment, it’s to local colleagues: Don’t pass new property-tax levies….For those who say, ‘Oh no, you’re making it more difficult to raise property-tax levies,’ the response is: Are you for property-tax levies? Do you think that’s a good thing? I’m not.”

Note: An example of local effect:

All but two of the 15 school districts in the five-county Akron-Canton area with an issue on the May 7 ballot are proposing tax hikes for homeowners — a request that’s increasingly frequent as superintendents express concerns over declining state aid and costly mandates.

Paul Hunter contact or comment paulhunter45177@gmail.com