It’s that
time of year again. Property tax bills
have arrived in the mailbox and are due to the county treasurer on or before
February 9. Homeowners can pay their
real estate tax directly to the county treasurer or as part of a monthly
mortgage payment while renters will have the tax figured into the cost of
rent.
Taxpayers
inside the city limits will see that the majority of their property tax is in
support of public education. As we celebrate Public Education week January
21-27, 2018, let’s remember how important a public education is to a thriving
and healthy democracy. Public schools
are here to educate all of our children, are paid for by all of our taxes, and
are governed by democratically and locally elected public school boards.
Our Founding Fathers believed in the
importance of public education and the necessity of society as a whole to
support public education. John Adams, the second President of the United States
said, “The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people
and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of
one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable
individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves.”
John Adams also said, “Laws for the liberal education of youth . . . are so extremely wise and useful, that, to a
humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought
extravagant.”
Benjamin
Franklin, signer of the Declaration of Independence said, “If a man empties his
purse into his head no man can take it from him” and “An investment in
knowledge always pays the best interest.”
In Ohio,
public schools are funded through a shared state and local method. Although this funding method has been
declared unconstitutional 4 times since 1994 due to an over reliance of
property taxes as compared to funding from the state, it is the method we still
have. Article VI Section 2 of the Ohio Constitution, states that “The General Assembly shall make such
provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the
school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common
schools throughout the state.”
Each public
school district in Ohio receives a different amount of money from the state for
a student. The amount of funding a
public school receives is determined through a complicated formula that
includes both the personal income of residents in the district and the property
valuation for the entire district. The formula then compares those same factors
to a statewide amount to determine a percentage for the districts funding.
This school
year, 2017-2018, Norwalk City SD is receiving a base amount of $3,619 from the
state for each student. The state adds
money to this base amount for students with special needs, economic
disadvantages, and limited English proficiency.
The state also funds a portion of pre-school students, gifted
identification, transportation and career tech programming.
The State of
Ohio receives the majority of its revenues from income tax and the state sales
tax which are redistributed back to school districts as state funding of
schools.
In the
Norwalk City School District, property taxpayers provide 27% of the operating
funds. The operating funds are used by
the school district for all instructional expenses. A part of the property tax paid is
specifically set aside for permanent improvements and to pay the bonds that
funded the construction of Norwalk High School.
A traditional income tax is paid by all residents of the school district
and funds 7% of operating expenses.
In
comparison, the state is providing 59% of Norwalk’s operating funds. The federal government provides zero
operating funds to schools although they do provide restricted grant funding.
While the
debate continues about the correct base cost of an education and the proportion
of funding schools should receive from the state versus from the local level,
keep in mind the public responsibility we all have to the public good which
includes public education. Whether it is through local property taxes or
statewide income and sales taxes, we all need to support our local public
schools.
In the words
of Thomas Jefferson, our third President of the United States, “Educate and
inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the
preservation of our liberty.”
written by:
Joyce Dupont
Norwalk City
School District Treasurer