Duke Energy is cutting its property tax payments owed to schools by 40%, because it can. Last week the Winton Woods School District and other districts across southwestern Ohio were notified by Duke that it has appealed to the Ohio Department of Taxation for a reassessment of its public utility personal property tax valuation. While the appeal is being heard, Ohio law allows Duke to pay a lower tax amount based on the lower valuation it is seeking. This will result in immediate income reductions for school districts. Duke is requesting that its tax obligation be reduced by 40%, even though its assessed property values increased by only 4% in 2009.

In the case of the Winton Woods School District, the loss will be $474,000 per year. This is equivalent to over 11% of the tax levy that the voters worked so hard to pass in November. The district has not yet received a full year of income from the levy, but here comes Duke announcing that it will withhold tax payments because its lawyers are taking advantage of a fundamentally flawed school funding law. No entity, public or private, should pay more than their fair share to support schools and other governmental functions. However, Duke’s plan would shift more of the burden to residential taxpayers, in direct conflict with the orders of the Ohio Supreme court. This and other egregious examples will continue until the General Assembly and Governor can agree on real reform. 

Unfortunately, Duke Energy, in its discussion with school district officials, indicated it has known of this potential reduction since December 2009, but only began notifying school districts in recent days, just days before the start of a new fiscal year. This late action by Duke is without any voter participation and comes at the absolute worst time as contracts with staff for next school year are legally beyond the date of possible modification. The late notice puts districts in an extremely difficult position. The ability to make significant budget adjustments at this point is severely limited.
 
Contact all those candidates who seek election in November to be governor or members of the General Assembly and tell them you want school funding fixed. In the meantime, contact the executives of Duke Energy at their corporate headquarters in Charlotte, NC and ask them to reconsider their choice to withhold money from our children. Tell them that their actions, however legal, will do grievous harm to the education of the children of Duke’s employees, indeed all the children, in Southwestern Ohio. Ask them to do the right thing and be a good corporate citizen.

John Pennycuff

Member of the Winton Woods School Board