by Andrew King
On Sunday, an article published in The Columbus Dispatch caused a stir that reverberated through campus and Bexley alike.
According to the report, the city was considering a recommendation by a “citi- zens task force” that would result in a tax for students in Bexley.
The article provided a range of any- where from $5-200 a month for students, including St. Charles Preparatory Acad- emy, Columbus School for Girls and Capital University.
Hours after the article was posted on the Dispatch website, students took to social networking to voice their concerns and soon Facebook and Twitter were abuzz with discussions, complaints and concerns.
Meanwhile, Bexley Mayor Ben Kes- sler had started his Sunday by reading the article, and was shocked at what he saw. He was not interviewed for the story.
“That was one of the most stressful two days of my tenure so far,” Kessler said.
To explain the issues in the story and the topic of the “tax,” one must first understand the creation of the commit- tee that made the recommendations, and what it actually means.
The task force
At the end of 2012, the state of Ohio repealed what was once the estate tax, which earns a city money from the value of the taxable estate of a deceased resident.
This, among other issues, left the city with, according to Kessler, a difference in revenue that had to be made up.
“That estate tax funded about 20 percent of our income on average,” he said. “Losing that was a huge blow, and that ended at the end of 2012.”
The city raised income tax to 2.5 per- cent, a figure that Kessler says is compara- ble to Columbus and many other suburbs, but there was still a difference of about $5 million that the city needed to find.
A group of residents were against the income tax increase, and thought that they could find other solutions to the bud- get issues, and Kessler welcomed their endeavor.
A task force was formed in late 2011 and early 2012, and the purpose was to propose ideas for a more sustainable bud- get and “non-traditional forms of revenue.”
Meanwhile, Kessler and the rest of city hall were working to trim the 2013 budget on their own.
“We put our back into it and cut a lot of expenses,” Kessler said. “So we’re com- ing into 2013 with a balanced budget, and five years out things are looking okay. So that changed.”
When the task force returned with recommendations and ideas, they were no longer as necessary as before, given the changes that had already been made.
But they presented them nonetheless.
“One of these ideas was a student service fee. They looked at fire and police only, and said that if you include students as users, it’s ‘x’ number of dollars per year,” Kessler said. “If you had a student fee to even recapture a fraction of that, this would be helpful to our income position, so they recommended $20 a month.”
This figure created one of Kessler’s biggest issues with the Dispatch article, and believes that a typo was made in writ- ing $200 instead of the $20 figure that had been discussed.
While he does not support the idea, Kessler said that the committee had its reasons for the suggestion.
“They pointed to the fact that Capi- tal resides on tax-exempt land and while they do pay income tax, that income tax is relatively low compared to other uses that could be on the campus,” he said. “That’s not to say that we don’t want a campus; it’s just to say that it’s not as contributing from a taxation perspective as some other uses.“
The word “tax” was also an issue for Kessler, who pointed out that a fee is not a tax, and the word “fee” was what had been discussed.
Shooting down the fee
According to Kessler, not only is there heavy opposition for the idea of a fee for students, but it has been determined that the proposal would not even be legal.
“A fee is able to be assessed when you can calculate in a very objective and tangible way a service that is being pro- vided, and calculate that it is only being provided to the individual who is being charged the fee,” Kessler explained with the disclaimer that he is not an attorney. He cited water or sewer bills as examples of these fees.
“My understanding is that we can- not tax students. And even if we could, I don’t support the heavy-handed approach that would follow from that.”
Kessler says that while Capital stu- dents may not pay the same as a normal resident in taxes, they offer more to the community than what taxes alone can show.
“The question is, ‘what feeds value in a community?’” he said. “Is it simply the tax base, or are there other assets? Our big institution in Bexley is our education. I’d say we have the best education envi- ronment in the state.”
Kessler cited the Columbus School for Girls, St. Charles, Trinity and Capital, as well as a highly-ranked high school.
“It’s awesome, it’s great, and it’s one of the things that make our commu- nity great,” he said. “Students at Capital, while they might not pay a huge amount of income tax, they drive demand for busi- nesses on Main Street. So it’s more compli- cated, in my mind, than just saying, ‘here’s what an office building would bring in in payroll tax, vs. a nonprofit educational in- stitution.’”
Aiding Kessler’s argument against the already illegal fee are some other op- tions that the city is exploring to save money and work in conjunction with the university.
According to Kessler, ideas such as joining Capital’s infrastructure and using (paying for) Capital’s IT services, combin- ing dispatching staff for both Public Safety and Bexley, or sharing the responsibility of maintaining fleets (trucks, busses, etc.) for both parties.
With these options, there is a lot left to be determined as the city council dis- cusses options, but Kessler says with cer- tainty that the tax is not something that will come into play.
“I don’t know where it goes from there, but I do know that it does not go to a fee or a tax.”
Moving forward
For Kessler, this incident demon- strates a fundamental problem between Capital and Bexley.
“I know that there is a perception in the student population that the city is hos- tile to Capital and that is not true,” he said. “My major economic goal is that Capital grows. I think that Capital’s growth is good for Bexley.”
Kessler hopes to change this percep- tion, and cited how integral the university is to the very dynamic of the city.
“We can argue all day long about whether Bexley should have been built with as many schools as it has on the acres that it has, but actually Capital predates the city of Bexley,” he said.
To help in this process, Kessler has met with President Denvy Bowman, and there are plans to have further discussion with all parties.
“We’ve spent a lot of time over the past year thinking about ways that we can grow together in a way that is beneficial to Capital,” he said. “We have a couple of restrictions on how Capital can grow, and we’re looking at that right now and figuring out if that’s something we can tweak a little bit, and refine and make more mutu- ally beneficial for both of us.”
The restrictions Kessler mentioned refers to the Southwest Bexley Master Plan, which does not allow the university to cross Main Street.
The Master Plan has come under scrutiny in the past, and discussions about altering the plan have been in place for some time.
“When the university tried to pur- chase Bexley Square shopping center, it became a big issue, because of that mas- ter plan,” Kessler said. “ I think ultimately Capital said we need to look at this master plan, and I agree with them. I’ve talked to President Bowman and Mark Ramseth (president of Trinity Lutheran), and we are figuring out a way to revamp that plan.
Unlike many before him, Kessler is open to the idea of the university cross- ing Main, and sees it as an opportunity for collaboration.
“My idea is that student uses or uni- versity uses on Main Street can cross sides of main street as long as there is some commercial interaction in there as well,” he said. “I love the idea of vertical class- room space on Main Street… above other uses on Main Street. It would bring stu- dents across the street which then helps them interact more with Main Street, and helps the viability of any businesses that are catering to them.”
There are also plans to have a larger meeting with representatives from mul- tiple groups on and off campus.
“I’ve talked to (Student Government President) Bobbi Wilson, and we’ve talked about doing a little town-gown (a meeting involving representatives from the city and the university communities) thing we’re working on where we get students together and city leaders and city resi- dents together to brainstorm ways to help each other out and create a better environ- ment for both of us,” Kessler said.
Wilson reiterated Kessler’s concerns.
“Obviously, especially with taxing, it shows that there are some misconceptions on issues and whether we’re welcome in the community,” she said. “Mayor Kessler is really great about working with us.”
The committee will strive to in- volve residents who live near the univer- sity, members of city commissions and the chamber of commerce, a representative from The Drexel, the Bexley Library and the police department, a representative from the recreation department, members of the President’s cabinet, and faculty who are residents of Bexley.
Ultimately, the goal of the project would be to strengthen the city’s relation- ship with the university, a priority for Kessler.
“I want to know if there is value that we can bring to students, and if there are ways that we can decrease pressure points between students and residents,” he said. “We don’t want to propagate an environ- ment that is hostile to students. It’s im- portant to know that we care about the student population and we want to have a thriving student population, and I believe firmly that a thriving student population is beneficial to the community.”
aking@capital.edu
