Reduction in property tax levy does not ensure voter support

By any measure, the Youngstown City School District’s shedding of the state’s fiscal emergency designation was a major accomplishment in the history of the troubled system. To reach that point, after five years of being under the thumb of the State Fiscal Oversight Commission, members of the board of education had to reduce spending by $35 million and slash 520 jobs. In other words, difficult decisions had to be made by those elected to represent the residents of the district — and they were.

Thus, you would think that residents would have no qualms about supporting the renewal of the property tax that was approved in 2008 and expires in 2013, especially since the board of education has decided to seek a lesser amount. The 9.5 mills that is now on the books generates $5.2 million a year. The new amount, which will be established by the county auditor’s office, would generate $3.5 million. The levy would be placed on the ballot next March, which means the board of elections must receive formal notice by Dec. 7.

But despite fiscal emergency having been lifted, there is no guarantee that residents in the district will approve the property tax renewal. That’s because the national economic recession and the state’s fiscal crisis have hit Youngstowners especially hard. Unlike the 2.75 percent income tax that is paid by everyone who works in the city, residents and non-residents alike, the school levy is only paid by those who own property in district. The 2010 national population census has revealed that the city’s population is now below 70,000, and that the per capita income has declined in the past decade.

Concentration of poverty

Additionally, a Brookings Institute study shows that Youngstown has the highest concentrated poverty rate among core cities in the United States’ 100 largest metropolitan areas.

The metropolitan statistical area of which Youngstown is a part — consisting of Mahoning, Trumbull and Mercer counties — is ranked just 16 from the bottom of the poverty barrel.

The No. 1 rating from the Brookings Institute compares the poor’s living conditions in major cities and whether they also live in an extremely poor neighborhood where the poverty rate exceeds 40 percent.

Roughly half of poor Youngstown residents live in such a neighborhood, 20 percent in an average city, according to a Brookings’ report, called “The Re-Emergence of Concentrated Poverty: Metropolitan Trends in the 2000s.”

It is clear that the board of education, along with the administration, faculty and staff will have to make a strong case to the voters that the fiscal stability of the school system is essential to its academic recovery. The Youngstown district is in academic watch and a recovery plan has been developed that requires additional expenditures for some programs.