The ODE (Ohio Department of Education) has web sites from which one can obtain a great deal of comparative data for the 612 school districts in Ohio. With a couple friends, I recently looked at some of this data, focusing on how Pickerington schools compare with comparable/nearby districts. These districts are:
Dublin Olentangy
Hilliard Reynoldsburg
Gahanna Upper Arlington
Canal Winchester Granville
Westerville Hudson
From this review, I observe the following:
?· Pickerington has the lowest tax valuation per student ?– 10% to as much as 64% below the others.
?· At 2.83% of household income, our school taxes are 13th highest in the ENTIRE STATE and higher than any of the 10 comparative districts listed. Six of the other districts are below 2%.
?· Only 13.3% of our total tax base is industrial/commercial. Dublin and Hilliard, meanwhile, are at 28.7% and 22.6% respectively.
?· Upper Arlington, Granville, Hudson, and Canal Winchester have less industrial/commercial than us, yet their tax base per student is 46% - 138% higher than ours.
Pickerington is a high growth community with our excellent schools the dominant factor for growth. It seems to me that communities such as ours are faced with 4 options:
?· Expensive homes with high income owners.
?· Relatively high % of tax base in industrial and commercial.
?· Poor cheap schools.
?· High and forever increasing taxes.
Looking at the 10 compared districts, we see examples of each:
?· Dublin, Hilliard, and Olentangy are more affluent AND have a more diverse tax base.
?· Canal Winchester and Reynoldsburg have less highly regarded schools.
?· Upper Arlington, Granville, and Hudson are also more affluent, but of equal or greater importance have much slower growth and equal or better schools.
Pickerington is an exception:
?· Great schools.
?· High growth.
?· Lopsided tax base.
?· Less affluent.
?· Highest and ever increasing taxes.
None of the other 10 has this impossible combination, and I don?’t think it can be sustained here. I think what we need to do is:
?· Limit housing growth to 1-1.5% per year as Granville and Hudson have done.
?· No new housing zoning of more than 2 per acre.
?· Build a nice industrial park that is well located for its purpose AND inside PLSD boundaries.
?· Reduce school taxes as a percent of income to 2% or less, at least 30% lower than today.
?· Build and staff schools to meet current shortages plus growth - after growth and zoning controls are in place.
This is a formula that is sustainable over the long haul. High growth, great schools, and high taxes is not sustainable. If continued, the growth already in process will mandate higher taxes/poorer schools.
Bill Miller
Pickerington
Dublin Olentangy
Hilliard Reynoldsburg
Gahanna Upper Arlington
Canal Winchester Granville
Westerville Hudson
From this review, I observe the following:
?· Pickerington has the lowest tax valuation per student ?– 10% to as much as 64% below the others.
?· At 2.83% of household income, our school taxes are 13th highest in the ENTIRE STATE and higher than any of the 10 comparative districts listed. Six of the other districts are below 2%.
?· Only 13.3% of our total tax base is industrial/commercial. Dublin and Hilliard, meanwhile, are at 28.7% and 22.6% respectively.
?· Upper Arlington, Granville, Hudson, and Canal Winchester have less industrial/commercial than us, yet their tax base per student is 46% - 138% higher than ours.
Pickerington is a high growth community with our excellent schools the dominant factor for growth. It seems to me that communities such as ours are faced with 4 options:
?· Expensive homes with high income owners.
?· Relatively high % of tax base in industrial and commercial.
?· Poor cheap schools.
?· High and forever increasing taxes.
Looking at the 10 compared districts, we see examples of each:
?· Dublin, Hilliard, and Olentangy are more affluent AND have a more diverse tax base.
?· Canal Winchester and Reynoldsburg have less highly regarded schools.
?· Upper Arlington, Granville, and Hudson are also more affluent, but of equal or greater importance have much slower growth and equal or better schools.
Pickerington is an exception:
?· Great schools.
?· High growth.
?· Lopsided tax base.
?· Less affluent.
?· Highest and ever increasing taxes.
None of the other 10 has this impossible combination, and I don?’t think it can be sustained here. I think what we need to do is:
?· Limit housing growth to 1-1.5% per year as Granville and Hudson have done.
?· No new housing zoning of more than 2 per acre.
?· Build a nice industrial park that is well located for its purpose AND inside PLSD boundaries.
?· Reduce school taxes as a percent of income to 2% or less, at least 30% lower than today.
?· Build and staff schools to meet current shortages plus growth - after growth and zoning controls are in place.
This is a formula that is sustainable over the long haul. High growth, great schools, and high taxes is not sustainable. If continued, the growth already in process will mandate higher taxes/poorer schools.
Bill Miller
Pickerington
