Letter to the editor: Schools are not the problem

Editor’s note: The Portager publishes letters to the editor from the community. The opinions expressed are published not because they necessarily reflect those of the publication but because we feel they contribute meaningfully to the local discourse on matters of public interest.

Scrapping property taxes in the great state of Ohio is a terrible idea for any number of reasons (how do you replace $24 billion in revenue?). But I don’t blame the voters for being up in arms about their rising property tax burden. 

I blame our state lawmakers — legislators who have kicked the can on the issue for decades, but nevertheless will gaslight and claim they are delivering huge property tax relief with the passage of their state budget bill. 

Instead of fixing the core issues behind the problem, those running Columbus want you to buy their fiction that public schools are the problem, and privatizing education is the solution. That’s the end-game here, and all property tax “fixes” proposed by this legislature should be viewed in that light.

The property tax fiasco didn’t happen overnight. Public school funding — the easy target for critics because of how dependent schools are on property tax revenue — has been uneven and broken for decades. Nearly 30 years ago, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Ohio’s school funding was unconstitutional, citing its over-reliance on property taxes and unequal distribution of adequate resources for quality education.  Twenty-five years later, the legislature finally attempted to address it with the bipartisan Cupp-Patterson bill which, after much debate and compromise, crafted a more equitable funding formula for school districts to utilize. But Cupp-Patterson has yet to be fully funded, and this current legislature has no intention of doing so. Why? If privatization is the end-game, defunding public schools is the quickest route there.

The property tax cauldron has been burning for decades, but it needed more heat to bring it to full boil. The tinder came in the form of a huge property tax break for businesses nearly two decades ago, shifting the property tax burden to homeowners and setting the stage for a fire that now threatens to burn it all down. 

What was the impact of that huge tax break for business? One comparable tells the tale: In 1991, homeowners and farms accounted for 48% of all property taxes collected; businesses accounted for nearly 40%. By 2022, the homeowner/agricultural burden rose to 66% of all property taxes collected, while businesses dropped to 22%. 

At a slow burn for 25 plus years, the property tax cauldron achieved full boil last year when residents received notice that their property valuations were going up 33%, on average, meaning they would see a significant spike in property taxes to be paid in 2025. 

For many seniors on a fixed income, already struggling to make ends meet, the arrival of those letters last year was a tipping point. But the arrival of their property tax bills in 2025 was the boiling point.    

Many responded in a predictable fashion. They said heck with the whole property tax business — let’s throw the baby out with the bathwater. If our elected representatives in Columbus refuse to deliver impactful property tax relief — especially for seniors on a fixed income — let’s take the direct democracy route and ban property taxes all together via constitutional amendment. 

That’s happening; signatures are being collected to put the issue on November’s ballot. But here’s the rub and my pushback. There wouldn’t be a citizen uprising to eliminate property taxes if you had representative leadership in Columbus. Or if you had leaders with a backbone who — instead of throwing red meat and demonizing public schools — would speak truth about the economic value of supporting our public schools, local EMS, police and fire, townships and municipality services. Or if you had leaders who could find creative ways of tapping existing funds (or how about getting businesses to pay their fair share of property taxes?) to prioritize tax relief — especially for our seniors, first and foremost — instead of finding crafty ways to finance a billionaire’s new stadium. 

But that kind of leadership takes courage. Once again, the super majority that runs the state has shown us what they value most — $600 million to appease a wealthy patron and tax breaks for the wealthiest Ohioans. $1.5 billion in public school money set aside for private school vouchers and busing. Seniors like me and the rest of us? Leftover table scraps. 

My advice? Ignore the gaslighting. When lawmakers show you who they are by way of their budget priorities, believe them. 

And next time around, stand up, speak out, and vote the con artists out.

— Frank Hairston, Ravenna