'Funding Disaster': Solon School Officials Testify Against Budget in Columbus

Solon school leaders were in Columbus Friday to testify before a House subcommittee on how Gov. John Kasich's budget proposal would affect Solon schools.

Put simply, they said it would decimate the district, leading to teacher layoffs, larger class sizes and perhaps even closure of an elementary school. 

Superintendent Joe Regano, School Board President Julie Glavin and Treasurer Tim Pickana all testified before the House Finance Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee. Pickana will return to Columbus Wednesday to testify before the full House Finance Committee, said schools spokeswoman Tammy Strom.

Solon officials explained that the district has done everything it can to be a model to the state: They have excelled in the classroom. They have cut administrative costs. Local property owners have passed levies, leading to the district being 95 percent locally funded.

But all the while, officials said the money from the state keeps disappearing.

"Communities like Solon have long grown tired of sending millions of tax dollars to the state and seeing less than a 6 percent return to the local community," Regano said. "Our citizens certainly understand and support the concept of shared sacrifice – especially in trying economic times as we face today – but enough is enough."

Under Kasich's budget – the governor needs to fill a giant $8 billion budget hole – Solon schools stand to lose $1.2 million a year starting in July from the phase-out of the now-defunct tangible personal property tax, or TPP, which was levied locally on manufacturing businesses until it was eliminated in 2005 as part of an effort to boost business activity in the state.

That phase-out will last about eight years, eventually culminating in a total loss of about $11 million a year for Solon, or about 18 percent of the district's budget.

This July, Solon is expected to lose about $2.5 million total in state revenue, which includes the TPP phase-out and about a $1.3 million loss in basic state aid.

The loss of TPP funds particularly rankles Solon and other districts. Both Regano and Glavin testified that school districts supported the TPP tax phase-out because they were promised the state would replace the revenue. That never happened, and that "broken promise" has led to the grim situation many districts find themselves in today, Regano said.

Solon School Board President Julie Glavin said the budget proposal places Solon in an "untenable" position with local property owners, who have supported the school district by passing levies. 

"The current funding system in Ohio already places districts like ours in the position of securing the support of our local taxpayers at the ballot box for any increased revenue," Glavin said, later adding: "If all else fails and school districts like ours are forced to go back to the voters again to pass double-digit levies fill this budget gap, the effect on residential property owners will be substantial."

Pickana took a big-picture approach, testifying on behalf of the Coalition for Fiscal Fairness in Ohio, a group created by school districts to fight the tangible personal property tax phase-out.

He said that many school districts will face a no-win decision if the TPP money is phased out completely.

"Do they drastically reduce the budget and forever lower the quality of education and services provided to their children?" Pickana asked. "Or, do they pass an additional levy to tax their way out of the TPP loss and place additional tax burdens on their residential and commercial taxpayers during the terrible economic times we are currently facing?"

The testimony is part of a two-front campaign to fix the TPP problem. While having school leaders talk to legislators is important, school officials stress that the voice of residents is the most vital to solving the funding crisis.

Strom, the schools spokeswoman, said residents have been flooding state legislators with post cards and email expressing their concern about the budget proposal. The schools last week attended by roughly 1,200 residents.

At that meeting, officials urged residents to get involved by contacting their representatives in Columbus.

"There have been thousands and thousands of postcards," Strom said. "People really understand the issue. They understand it's not from a lack of planning or not reducing expenditures, but that it's an unintended consequence of tax reform."

For more information on how to contact your state legislature, visit the page dedicated to school funding at the Solon school district website.