Kasich Vetoes Extended TPP Reimbursements, Ignores Solon Lobbying

SOLON, OH — Despite lobbying efforts by the Solon Schools, residents, and legislative allies, like State Senator Matt Dolan, Governor John Kasich vetoed a line item from the proposed state budget that would have extended the Tangible Personal Property (TPP) tax reimbursements, diminishing a large revenue source for the Solon Schools. A spokesperson for the district said the veto is "disappointing and frustrating."

Kasich said in a message accompanying his veto decision that districts impacted by the loss of TPP reimbursements have had "more than sufficient time to prepare for the end of this funding." He went on to say the line item would have only extended the inevitable transition districts need to make in response to the funding loss.

The Solon Schools are among districts set to be hit hardest by the loss of TPP reimbursement funding. Tamara Strom, communications for Solon Schools, says the district will lose $2.4 or $2.5 million this fiscal year, and approximately $750,000 next year.

Strom said the district has tightened its belt in recent years in anticipation of this "fiscal cliff." The district has reduced its staffing size, instituted pay freezes, and utilized other austerity measures, according to Tim Pickana, the Solon Schools' treasurer's testimony before the Ohio Congress in April 2017.

Kasich said the TPP reimbursements were going primarily to districts that could "raise their own revenue" and were being diverted from lower-wealth districts. Strom said that while the governor may want Solon to push a levy onto ballots to fund schools, the district would not look to shift tax responsibility onto residents.

"We are responsible to our citizens and taxpayers. Holding a levy vote would not necessarily be an automatic action that we would take," she told Patch. "We look at a whole combination of ways that we can help address that loss of revenue. Many of these things are related to how we can tighten our belt. We closed a school recently. We are always looking at ways to be fiscally responsible."

The loss of further TPP reimbursements is compounding. The district is currently collecting about $8.2 million in TPP reimbursement funds, down from $10.7 million a couple of years ago. With the incoming loss of about $3.25 million from that funding over two years, the district will have to gear up to protect the remaining revenue.

"We’ve gotten to a point where the money is still draining away. We can’t get back what was lost, but any effort to save dollars is important," Strom said.

State Senator Matt Dolan is on recess and did not immediately return Patch's request for comment.

Other districts, like nearby Strongsville and further away Lordstown, are set to also see funding loss as a result of the TPP reimbursement veto. Strongsville Supertintendent Cameron Ryba previously said the district could lose as much as 25 percent of its state-based funding under Kasich's proposed budget.

"We cannot continue to achieve the vision of our Governor and the expectations of our legislature and community if the decisions made at the state level alleviate those very opportunities we have been challenged to create through the continued erosion of the state's financial obligation to appropriately fund and support public education," Ryba said in testimony before the Ohio Congress.

Meanwhile, Lordstown officials are saying they could lose 20 percent of the district's overall revenue as a result of the TPP reimbursement veto, the Youngstown Vindicator reports.

The Ohio House of Representatives will meet on Thursday to vote on a possible veto override. Even if the house passes an override, the Ohio Senate would need to pass its own override measure next week to supersede Kasich's veto.

Strom told Patch the district is hopeful at the prospect of an override, but officials are remaining practical and realistic.

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