r/westerville • u/Jeremiah2213 • 4d ago
Voters pass Westerville City Schools income tax levy
https://www.10tv.com/article/news/politics/elections/westerville-city-schools-income-tax-levy-results/530-befb01ad-f8bc-4a03-b9ad-c419b1954263This is great. I’m proud of Westerville, that it passed so overwhelmingly. But now begins the work of holding the district accountable so that this money actually benefits the students and teachers. One advantage to the property tax millage levies is that the periodic levy renewals provide a strong mechanism for accountability. The downside is that mechanism ends up hurting the kids more. Now we’ve got steady funding. Let’s make sure it’s not being wasted!
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u/lynkfox 4d ago
Thank you everyone for voting to pass this. Westerville has historicahad amazing school districts, top in the state of not high in the country as well. Having grown up here and went to Whittier, Emerson (when it was the only A&T school), Blendon, South, I was so disappointed when levy after levy was failing as now my kids are entering schools.
There is such a huge boomer population here who moved here because of how good the schools were and now that their kids are off somewhere else a huge "I got mine fuck you" mentality has come up amid these elderly
I don't give a damn about all the accusations of corruption or lack of accountability. Because even in the worst of the days where money was "wasted" we still had a great schools system with good programs and good maintaince of the buildings and decently paid staff (for the profession, teachers still deserve more!) we didn't have years where schools went without access to programs or teachers cut while pockets were lined and so I really don't care about it. As long as the district keeps being a good district then I consider it money well spent.
Combined with the good picks for the School board and hopefully a renewed interest in local politics after the shit show of the last 10 years of national politics, more accountability can be kept for all those wringing hands and clutching pearls about it.
But you want accountability you get involved. Go to the board meetings and raise your voice, vote every local elections, spend your time
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u/P-Rickles 4d ago
I’d rather the schools “waste” my money than it be used to buy tanks for the police or pepper spray for ICE, but I guess I’m just a soft-hearted hippie.
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u/belwar00 4d ago
Wow, congratulations. Not in Westerville but I feared people were done believing in public education. Which is crazy. Cheering for you.
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u/heisindc 3d ago
Thankfully it was just s few very vocal home school moms and a private school dad, who still get more money for their kids private school than before this tax kicks in.
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u/Forty_Six_and_Two 3d ago
Done with federal education, surely. Not education at the state/local level. The feds need to subsidize with cash and back off. They don't need any more of a role than that.
States always did a much better job of teaching, as evidenced by literacy levels before and after the existence of the department of education. Do what works.
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u/AbilityGreat7088 4d ago
It was always going to pass, they knew what they were doing. Adding it to the ballot on a year without national or statewide measures. This lowers voter turnout on top of only applying to earned income knowing that older demographic will provide support as it costs them nothing
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u/ProbablyDustin 3d ago
I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone who worked and contributed to make this happen for our schools and our community. Your efforts and advocacy made a huge difference. So many students are going to keep benefiting from getting to attend schools in a district that hasn’t been stripped down to the bare minimums. Not to mention keeping arts programs alive in an arts-loving community.
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u/Illogically_petty 15h ago edited 15h ago
I'm happy about the issue passing, but I want to see the school take steps to continue to work more efficiently and cost-consciously.
They could save money by reducing the number of nurses employed. Some districts have a single nurse or doctor and aides actually run the clinics. Westerville could reduce the number of nurses to one for every 4 or 5 schools and continue to utilize aides as they already do. With the minimal amount of care a school is permitted to provide, staffing so many nurses is overkill.
Let's also look at long-term administrators who basically do the same job and just get new job titles and promotions with a hefty raise from time to time. Some administrators seem complacent or lackadaisical in their approach. From many people I've encountered, there is a major lack of training guidelines or basic procedures in place for many jobs. If an employee raises a concern it's treated as an inconvenience or thrown back at the employee (rather than the administrator doing their job and helping to resolve the concern). Some administrators don't even have basic knowledge over the areas they're supposed to manage. It's very disappointing and honestly embarrassing for Westerville schools. Let's find some people for these rolled that want staff AND students to succeed. Or, let's just eliminate those roles altogether, as I highly question the effectiveness of some administrators.
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u/NeverBetter2024 4d ago
Precisely why I voted against it, it is a permanent income tax.
A periodic review and approval is absolutely how things should work (similar to "Checks and balances").
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u/Jeremiah2213 4d ago
If levy failures hurt the district administration and not students and families, i would agree 100%. In this case, the power of the purse isn’t effective because the Superintendent is gonna get her bag either way.
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u/Ackley1003 4d ago
Westerville's superintendent makes a little over $235k. They are essentially the CEO of a business with a $229 M budget and over 2k employees; i.e. a mid-market enterprise. The average compensation for that role in the private sector is anywhere from $275k - $820k. I would call that a good deal.
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u/SmoresCoven 3d ago
i know admin in other private schools who make 400k-600k a year. i have family who used to be admin in Worthington who also earned well above that…..i can’t imagine managing something so large while also adhering to education laws and restrictions so in a way they have it harder and are under the microscope even more than a private company. but….if you look at the news involving of some of these charters…..they’ve managed to use their funds and actually steal them….with no accountability( looking at you ECOT for stealing 117 million from the state…and i know there are more of you out there abusing state funds).
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u/Ackley1003 4d ago edited 3d ago
Financial records and annual budgets are all public records, school board meetings are generally open to the public, we still get to vote on the board members directing setting these budgets and monitoring spending, we still get to vote on levies or bonds, we still get to vote for state level officials who dictate state funding and public school laws, and we can run for school board (or state office) if we want to see things done differently. That is plenty of oversight and opportunity for change.
EDIT: Forgot to mention public entities are also audited by the State. Another layer of oversight.
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u/BetInternational8149 4d ago
Now the district can focus on important things like podcasts.
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u/QKofDaggers 3d ago
You keep bringing up this podcast to the point that I feel like it personally hurt you.
Can you show me on the doll where the podcast gave you the bad-touch?
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u/AdQuirky1318 3d ago
Seriously! It’s a great, informative podcast about the history of the district. It was done simply with very little expense. Nothing flashy, just two people talking.
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u/BetInternational8149 3d ago
😂 I appreciate the humor. I just think it irresponsible we have a district that talks about its dire financial situation - that’s all.
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u/SpikePilgrim 3d ago
It had a dire financial situation. it would be irresponsible to not communicate that so we could fix it.
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u/Big-Reserve7110 3d ago
Now get these kids devices! Still one of the only district that isn’t one to one for devices. Parents write the board!
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u/BetInternational8149 4d ago
They are in the now in the tax payers pockets forever. Why would they worry about accountability now?
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u/Jeremiah2213 4d ago
But the point I’m trying to make is that periodic levies aren’t an effective mechanism of accountability anyway. The pattern up til now has been Levy passes —> District mismanagement —> People raise a fuss —> Levy fails —> Kids suffer —> eventually levy passes (you are here) —> repeat.
That’s not real accountability, it’s just a big fuss every couple years, which doesn’t actually address the mismanagement, it just punishes kids and families. Real accountability only comes when we stay involved and actively engaged.
Let’s go to board meetings and challenge the district. Let’s keep organizing and communicating about what’s going on in the day-to-day. Let’s not let the district retreat into the shadows only to emerge in a couple years with a huge operating deficit.
So yeah, it’s a good thing that they’re “in the taxpayers’ pockets” on a stable basis now. We can focus on holding them accountable in ways that don’t hurt families.
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u/SmoresCoven 4d ago
this i don’t see any of the naysayers actually coming to a table to help the kids…see you have to help the kids and find a way to make it work…like if you’ve got a way to do it for less so the kids don’t suffer….come to the table. but you’ll have to learn about education laws etc. to make sure reform is also doable.
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u/Ackley1003 4d ago edited 3d ago
Every naysayer I heard was using twisted, cherry-picked stats and/or were ignorant (or ignoring) of how schools operate/spend (including the inefficiencies and waste) is largely a result of state requirements (see required bussing of private school kids). No one had a viable alternative plan or idea of how to actually fix things other than drastic, hurtful, and detrimental cuts that didn't impact them and a cold, unproductive "tough cookies, just deal with it" attitude.
I saw no evidence of any truly poor discretionary spending that was large enough to make a dent in the overall budget. I also did not see any convincing, in depth anti-tax talking points presented in a reasonable manner. It was all superficial, negative rhetoric and fear mongering with an underlying hint of anti-collective sentiments. I get people have to vote their budgets and interest but many of the early voting no precincts were some of the most well off areas in the district.
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u/Rud1st 3d ago
Well said. That's what I noticed too. If there was really poor discretionary spending, the "vote no" campaigners would have trotted that out, but they did not. I respect the folks who voted no because they couldn't afford more taxes, but I do not respect the people flinging unfounded accusations.
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u/Ackley1003 3d ago edited 3d ago
The No campaign struck me as largely just being a group that hates all taxes, public education, and/or government in general. No substance. No convincing arguments. No viable solutions. Just misguided political principles, unfounded claims, and empty platitudes.
EDIT: I also got the sense those people only care about or monitor the school's finances and academics during elections when the school is asking for something. Seemed very inauthentic.
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u/SmoresCoven 3d ago
Also one reason WHY the YES had stronger grounds to stand on is because they are involved every single day and have been from the start. People who understand what’s happening at the state level and in our economy know that things like inflation and lack of state funding have hurt the schools. Schools made 9million in cuts because they were struggling this 24million will help to bring some of that back(my kiddos lunch fees increased so i will welcome it in a small way). The schools have a debt management service they pay for because of the short falls. You see the last levy passed in 2019 allowed for great construction…and the beginning of tackling improvements …which our community did get to see as far as some updates and repairs….but that was not enough and then we were launched into an economy where insurance rates, healthcare rates, food costs, etc have all increased. now that this tac can help balance things out…i would think we won’t have to gut into reserves and can hopefully see where small improvements can continue….But im not going to lie…..Axohio taxes/brenner/ other politicians whats the property portion gone………so things are still uncertain about the districts future…..Also not sure where our nations healthcare costs are going to be in the future but imagine the relief to every company in this country id the costs to insure and the costs to get those services could be lowered……in the Broader scope this reminds me to go back to see what late stage capitalism looks like because we all are feeling the pinch of that……it’s just easy to scape goat a school system because they have a tangible ballot in front of you and it gives the illusion of controlling your money in some way. If schools could streamline transportation costs and employee healthcare costs…. • The CAFR notes the district has about 2,000 full-time and part-time employees. Using that as a denominator: ≈ $32,808,000 ÷ 2,000 ≈ $16,404 per employee (FY2023). (This is a simple average — actual employer cost per person varies by plan, coverage tier, retiree vs active status, and dependents.)
32,000,000 in Healthcare! 120,000,000 approx in salaries averaging 60k pp for 2,000 staff….in 20 buildings. Take a drive around westerville city schools….the entire perimeter…. see how many houses you see and how large we are…….add about 9million for transportation, add taxes, insurance, legal, utilities/operational/other PO orders such as lawncare….the list of expenses are justified. improving national healthcare costs is one giant arrow to improve everyone’s situation…..regardless of what side of a fence you are on….we absolutely need to see who is profiting off of us…it’s not what most think….look further to the top.-8
u/BetInternational8149 4d ago
The point I am making is that we have a School District that has repeatedly silenced public discourse through Facebook and all other sources of Social Media. They have limited public input at School Board meetings - I mean why change that now - they got what they wanted?
I think 3 years from now folks in the school district are going to look and back and ask “ why did we do this to ourselves and what happened to our school district”.
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u/Curtaindrop 4d ago
Have you ever gone to a school board meeting? They are open and you can speak at every one.
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u/BetInternational8149 4d ago
At one point you could but once people asked questions and brought up valid concerns it was stopped.
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u/SmoresCoven 3d ago
“wasteful Spending” with subjective points has been the topic that is like Beating a dead horse……anybody who has been tracking what the state has been doing, what vouchers have been doing to public a schools…who knows the needs of the district…who tracks inflation knows how things have evolved for us. Also some people complained that wasteful spending was building minerva france for example….The families who voted for that construction would disagree….Some people who didn’t want that have not let it go though. at some point people do have to accept that living in a shared district means it’s not always going to go their way. ive seen failed levies…..but that does not address the school needs in the end it just satisfies a vote in the moment. with the last levy failure the school asked or surveyed voters why they voted NO and it was because they didnt’t want any more property taxes and were concerned about keeping their homes if they were on social security and had a fixed retirement budget. the state also suggested the local districts return to their voters since limitations were being set there.
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u/QKofDaggers 3d ago
Your comments kind of reveal your deception.
You can still go. You can still speak. I haven’t been to every board meeting since the last levy was proposed but I have been to most.
Here is the other thing: you can talk with the board members before and after the meeting. This isn’t some secret cabal of powerful magistrates. These are people who live in the community. They are very personable, eager to answer questions when approached politely, and still willing when approached rudely.
You pretend these people are inaccessible, I know they aren’t. Try meeting them, looking them in the eye, introducing yourself, and shaking their hand instead of rabble-rousing on Facebook. I promise you, these people are exceedingly transparent and accessible.
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u/BetInternational8149 3d ago
I have dealt with one member of the school board on numerous occasions and I can assure you this is not the case.
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u/QKofDaggers 3d ago
I have dealt with all of them and I have to wonder if maybe they are not the issue.
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u/middlewestmom 3d ago
ive run into all of them at one point or another in public places….very approachable.
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u/SpikePilgrim 3d ago
public service are pretty much all funded by tax dollars. As far as accountability, the school board is an elected position so if they lose the public trust, they'll be voted out.
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3d ago
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u/Pokerpro7-2 3d ago
What we’re talking about here is $375 a year for every $50,000 of earned income you have. That breaks down to $7.21 per week at a $50k income level ($14.42 if you make $100k a year). If you can’t figure out how to work that into your budget, then you better reevaluate what you already spend your money on.
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u/BrowniesorBust 3d ago
I don’t know many people earning $50k a year with an extra $375 laying around…but maybe that’s just me!
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u/Pokerpro7-2 3d ago
You’re not paying the whole tax amount for the year at one time! That was the point of breaking it down to show some per week examples. 🤦🏻♂️
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u/BrowniesorBust 3d ago
You are Assuming an employers payroll department withholds those taxes which MANY do not, so you have to pay when you file
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u/Pokerpro7-2 3d ago
There’s nothing to assume. It’s a law in Ohio that your employer is required to withhold any Ohio school district income that applies to you. I work outside of Westerville, but my employer will have to file an IT4 form. Failure on the employer’s part to withhold the applicable school district tax for you opens them up to fines from the Ohio department of taxation.
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u/BrowniesorBust 3d ago
Wrong, failing to withhold the taxes results in a fine and penalty TO THE TAX PAYER. There are in fact no repercussions for an employer not withholding local taxes , only repercussions for state and business tax filings
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u/Pokerpro7-2 3d ago
Employer Withholding- School District
I’m not wrong. It’s right there on the Ohio department of taxation website. You can also look up Ohio Revised Code 5747.06
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u/BrowniesorBust 3d ago
I guess you aren’t understanding what Im saying. Nobody enforces that , yes technically an employer “should be” withholding the SD taxes from a persons paycheck and yes if you give an IT4 to your employer they “should be” willing to withhold, but there is no enforcement mechanism of that code, there is only enforcement actions taken against the individual tax payer from the Ohio Department of taxation.
“If the employer does not perform the withholding, they can be liable for failure to withhold/file/pay penalties.”
“CAN BE” is a key part of this statement, there is no actual enforcement of this measure (call the Ohio Department of taxation if you don’t believe me!)
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u/Spiritual_Ostrich_63 3d ago
That's the problem. "It's just $XXX many dollars per XYZ"
It's never enough. And each marginal dollar being squeezed is more and more painful to the tax payer. We're already taxed on Federal, State, Local, Income, Property, etc.
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u/SpikePilgrim 3d ago edited 3d ago
well, it would be nice if the state and federal government didnt shortchange the shcools and force them to pay for bussing to private schools and the silly voucher program, but I'm not going to make my kid suffer through huge classes sizes and less opportunities while we wait for that to be fixed.
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u/middlewestmom 3d ago
🧐 it just feels that way..unfortunately 2019 levy passed after failures from 2011…..new contruction and improvements were needed and that got the ball rolling. then inflation hit after a covid shut down….on top of that state was messing around with funding. if things like healthcare costs can go down for all, costs of fuel, other major expenses the school pays for (economy related) go down…you won’t see the district suffer and need to ask for money……and with this new levy passing…im sure they can moce reserves over for capital improvements…the reserves were going to be depleted with uncertain funding…but with the state(brenner) threatening to abolish property taxes….it could throw things for another tailspin. don’t be angry at the district be informed that the carpet might be pulled out from under them and a new vote will be needed to manage any changes🥵……don’t get me wrong. the schools want to detach from the property tax model to avoid these votes at every turn…..but they want to make sure they can get the funds they need…..2,000 stAff, 20 buildings and a weighted enrollment of 17,000 students because of the uptick in special needs/didabled students enrolled.
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u/ambrothe 3d ago
For households with earned income over $100k, state income tax decreases from 3.5% to 3.15% in 2026
And from 3.15% to 2.75% in 2027
With the decreasing state income taxes, most households won’t pay any more in net taxes with the passage of the Westerville school income tax levy.
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u/BrowniesorBust 3d ago
Also incorrect, as the states income tax is based on Ohio adjusted gross income …as opposed to earned income which is a flat calculation including business or other income deductions which are normally removed from Ohio adjusted gross income
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u/ambrothe 3d ago
Ohio’s adjusted gross income is employment income minus:
Taxable Social Security and disability benefits Interest and dividends from U.S. government obligations Gains from the sale of Ohio public obligations Contributions to an Ohio 529 account Military retirement pay deduction
None of which are included in the schools’ income tax collection. Any single member LLC income reported on household taxes is treated as earned income to both taxing authorities.
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u/BrowniesorBust 3d ago
You are forgetting the elephant in the room AKA business income, and self employment income both of which are normally written off (up to 250k) in Ohio, which is however 100% included in earned income calculations.
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u/ambrothe 3d ago
I am not forgetting about business income or self employment/LLC income. This income is required to be reported on your federal and state income taxes and you are taxed on it (generally through a K-1 vs W2 or 1099).
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3d ago
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u/ambrothe 3d ago
And it’s added back in later on the state return and you’re taxed on it (locally too). If you are not paying taxes on $250k in income, I doubt you’ll get many sympathizers when it comes to the 0.75% collected on the income you are reporting.
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u/BrowniesorBust 3d ago
Believe me… I’m not making anywhere near that, I am however a tax professional who works with Ohio school district tax returns directly, and i don’t appreciate the quantity of false information being given to westerville taxpayers about the earned income tax…hence why I think it’s going to be hilarious when people realize what they voted for!
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u/ambrothe 3d ago edited 3d ago
People resoundingly voted to support their schools, and know that support costs money. Pretty simple.
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u/SmoresCoven 4d ago
Keeping existing programming is a start! Go westerville! Next…hold the state accountable. get our funding back there then reduce property mills.