This article was originally published by the Columbus Free Press on Dec. 9, 2024.

American cities are in crisis. From an ever-widening income gap to the absence of affordable housing to crumbling schools, many metropolitan areas are on an unsustainable trajectory. However, these problems are not caused by immigration and “woke policies” as the right would have you believe. Instead, the root of the problem is the insatiable greed of the capitalist class and the corruption that inevitably follows in its wake.

Columbus, Ohio is a classic example of the mutually beneficial relationship between city officials and developers that all too often leaves working people behind. In an ongoing effort to lure wealthy developers to the area, the city provides tax abatements. In return for building in certain areas and for including “affordable” housing in their developments, these developers are given significant tax breaks. From the point of view of finance capital and elected officials in the city it is a classic win-win situation. Corporations get their money, and the city gets new and more profitable housing units for its expanding population.

Forget for a moment that their affordable housing isn’t affordable at all; that the corporations can pay a nominal fee to skip the affordability requirement altogether; and that these programs are actually used as a tool for gentrification by replacing low rent units with high rent modern multi-use structures. There is another victim of the abatement scheme: the local public school.

The state has been shifting the tax burden for public schools from businesses to the local populace for years. In 1975, homeowners and farmers were responsible for 46.1 percent of school taxes, while businesses paid 53.9 percent. By 2022, local residents were shouldering a whopping 66.1 percent while businesses were down to 33.9 percent. Now, thanks to the abatement scam, these businesses are finding ways to shirk what little responsibility they have left.

Many of the tax abatements granted to developers last for 10 to 15 years. According to data obtained from the city, over time these tax breaks will result in lost income for area schools totaling over $600 million, including $330 million redirected from the Columbus City School District alone. In just the year 2017, it is estimated that abatements cost area schools $125 million. This is money that should have gone to fund public education, but instead stayed in the pockets of rich capitalists who send their kids to private schools (which get increasing amounts of funding from the state).

In 2023, Columbus City Schools were forced to place a 7.7 million permanent levy on the ballot. Despite the fact that this would increase the tax burden on those already feeling squeezed by stagnant wages and a higher cost of living, residents banded together and backed the levy. The alternative would have been schools that continue to lack proper heating and cooling, continue to be infested with insects and rodents, and continue to physically deteriorate. Columbus City also would have had to stop plans to expand educational services and eliminate over 600 essential workers.

Wealthier suburbs are not immune. The Westerville school district was forced to place a 4.9 million levy on the ballot to counter falling income from the state and businesses. Even in a relatively well-to-do area, voters are feeling the effects of the expanding economic crisis wrought by unchecked capitalism, and in this case Westerville voters rejected the levy. The district is now facing a $47 million deficit over the next five years.

What could these schools do with an extra $125 million? Columbus could ensure that all of its buildings are safe, clean, and accessible for students and teachers. It could expand education programs for low income and disadvantaged communities. It could not only keep valuable employees in place, but it could also hire additional staff and upgrade technology. And it could do all of this without increasing the tax burden on local citizens. Perhaps with proper funding, the school district could finally escape the stigma of being a “failure.”

Instead, those funds will go where all capital goes: back into the machine to make more money for those who already have plenty of it. Highly profitable local developers like Pizzuti will rake in profits from their tax deferred “affordable” units, while the schools are left underfunded and the rent continues to climb for working people. Maybe, instead of continuing to rob Peter to pay Paul, it is time for the working people of Columbus to come together and demand that capital pay its fair share.

Image: Columbus teachers and community members march in April 2022 to demand fully funded schools and the end of handouts to private developers by Anna Hass Morgan Club (X)

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