Corporates Steal From Cleveland Schools, Want the Rest of Us to Pay Up Now

By Roldo Bartimole

The Cleveland corporate community didn’t give a damned hoot about the Cleveland schools when making all those revenue decisions in the 1980-90. Gave away revenue as fast as they could. The price has been very high. But they don’t want to pay any of it.

Instead the Corporates and City Hall want a substantial levy of 15 mills to be passed by its citizens for the poor Cleveland schools. That’s a hard whack for homeowners.

They’ve been robbing revenue from the schools for decades. And they haven’t seemed to care a bit. The Plain Dealer has gone along every time, naturally.

Since the late 1970s when abatement was given to National City Bank – then one of the richest banks in the nation – hardly any substantial building downtown hasn’t gotten some form of tax subsidy.

In fact, it went from 20-year abatements at 100 percent to full forever tax exemptions for major sports projects.

Nothing was too costly to free it of taxes.

The City of Cleveland has borne the substantial burden for the rest of the area not only with tax abatements of office and housing, tax shifting via TIFs (where taxes pay for development, diverted from public use), full tax exemption as in the stadiums, arena or anything else (garages) built adjacent, but tax exemptions for hospital and other supposed non-profit uses, including religious. Where does it stop?

If you look at major building owners you’ll find also that they have been obtaining substantial reductions in the value of their properties, this another form of tax break. Owners even sought decreases in the property value of the land beneath the tax abated buildings. Such gall.

How does a city survive without revenue? How do the schools survive since the bulk of the property tax revenue goes to fund schools? Typically 55 to 60 percent goes to the schools. It’s their only source of local money.

These non-taxed institutions serve not only Cleveland but the entire area. However, the Cleveland schools lose the revenue.

It is totally unfair.

The State of Ohio has approved legislation for the tax gifts, starting with an abatement bill in the late 1970s written by Squire Sanders & Dempsey.

Then Mayor Michael White and County Commissioner Tim Hagan lobbied along with Cleveland corporate leaders for full tax exemptions for Gateway, extended to ALL sports facilities in the state. Hagan and White flew to Columbus via the private jet of Pat Parker of Parker-Hannifin, the man they named chairman of the Gateway project.

About the only building in downtown Cleveland that didn’t get abated was the BP building at Public Square, originally the Sohio Building. When first proposed behind Terminal Tower it was awarded abatement. But its location was changed to Public Square and at the time Sohio was awash in North Coast cash. Plus George Forbes physically tossed me out of a hotel breakfast meeting of Council about the building to much bad publicity. The abatement never came.

A few years later I check how much the owners paid in property taxes on the building. In the five years I examined in 1990 taxes of $17,750,828 were paid at 200 Public Square.

With abatement it would have paid nothing.

The Ritz-Carleton and the Marriott got 20-year, 100 percent abatements. The Wyndham hotel got TIF tax relief.

The last time I looked in 2010 Browns stadium should have been paying some $8 million a year; Quicken Arena, $3.8 million; Progressive Field $4.8 million. That’s $16.6 million a year in forgiven property taxes. About 55 percent should have gone to the Cleveland schools. Or more than $9 million each year. It’s been years since any of these have paid a penny on the facilities.

How much did they pay? Zero. And they never will pay a penny.

This reveals the kind of money that has been diverted from public use to private pockets.

Every official knows this. Where is responsibility?

The Plain Dealer page one story on the school levy decision was very odd. Bizarre.

Though the tax levy was voted unanimously by the school board not a single board member is quoted or even mentioned in the PD article with four columns of four inches each on the front page and some 40 more inches on the overrun page.

The article has 43 paragraphs, not a single quote – not a single mention – of a board member or anyone else who spoke at the meeting.

This I call slanted journalism. Shoddy.

About the only negative quote was the distasteful, scatological comment of Councilman Mike Polensek. It was worthy of a third grader.

The fix is obviously in. The Corporates have spoken. They won’t give up anything themselves. They will ask for everything from Clevelanders.

Since the State of Ohio has been so obliging in diverting revenue from the schools to corporate friends it should be up to the State of Ohio to pay the overdue bills of the Cleveland School system. It voted abatements and it voted tax exemptions.

Let the State take over and fix what it has so conveniently allowed to fester.

* * *

On the other major piece of government business this day – the new housing for Cuyahoga County – I think I have the proper solution. And it will aid the Cleveland schools.

The County should buy the Cleveland school administration building, invest in renovating it and use it for its offices.

That will mean public money from the County will go to the Cleveland schools to help it with its relocation to new offices.

It would be only deserved payback to the schools for all the revenue robbed by the former County Commission and its Gateway blunders.

The purchase will maintain a historic 1930 public building within the historic Group Plan and will keep all the public money in public hands.

Finally, I urge the Plain Dealer and Chris Quinn, Metro Editor, to assign someone to total the lost revenue due to the range of abatements by going to the County and getting the figures.

It’s time the newspaper was responsible to the public and not the Greater Cleveland Partnership thugs.

* * *

Good Old Guys Won’t Leave Us

Can we bring back Tom Chema?

Why?

Well, he’d fit right into Cleveland’s present leadership.

How desperate can we be?

Old, tired, used up. Choose your choice of description for Cleveland’s leadership these days.

Mayor Frank Jackson. Top of the list of old, tired politicians with no vision though the Plain Dealer and Gov. John Kasich keep try to give him some luster.

Mayor Frank Jackson’s executive line-up? Tired old Mike White hand-downs: Ken Silliman, chief of give-them-what-the-mayor-wants. Still there. Chris Warren still hanging on. Jackson let the fire chief go despite his mess-ups and can’t seem to replace the law director who left nine months ago. Who would notice the difference? Who might be paying attention? Apparently no one.

Even Mike Polensek seems to have settled down some. Haven’t read a nasty letter of his for some time.

Then there’s George Forbes. Still in the saddle, if a bit wobbly. Why does anyone care what he thinks or says? But they can’t find anyone else. It’s that bad.

Oh yeah, once in a while it’s Lou Stokes. Boring.

These guys must be 100 years old. Certainly 100 in overstaying their welcome.

But who is there to usher them off stage?

Then there’s Joe Roman. The PD thinks he’s a Roman god. Let’s quote him again on whatever he wants to say.

God, this town is dull!

One might even expect George Voinovich to pop up.

Please! Somebody wake somebody up.

I used to have hope for Joe Cimperman. Long, long ago. What a dud he turned out to be.

Jeff Johnson came back. I had hope. But then he didn’t.

Even Ruth Turner learned to go along to get along. Back in the pack.

We’re old, tired and dull other places, too.

Look at the PD line-up of columnists. Phillip Morris went away for seasoning. He came back without even a hint of salty. He quickly jumped back to Jean Capers and copper Jimmy Simone. How many times do we have to hear the same worn tunes?

Then there’s boring with a capital “B” Kevin O’Brien with his handouts from the Tea Party or are they as old and tattered as John Birch leftovers. He’s wearing it out.

I don’t read Regina Brett so I’ll leave her alone. You can take so much boredom in the a.m.

And Dick Feagler. He’s still giving us that old shtick from the Cleveland Press. Isn’t WVIZ embarrassed? Can’t they find someone who isn’t grand-popping us?

And I’m still here, too. Long past the day I should just be reading books. But what can I do? I could shut up I guess. But they make this so easy.

TV anchors are still yukking it up. Totally absent of content.

The trouble is that I see all the above hanging on and low. And I didn’t even get to Brent Larkin. Woe be us.

Meanwhile, as everyone keeps doing what they’ve been doing since 1976 what’s happening out in the real community? Where the bulk of the people live, exist, try to survive.

We have no idea. They’re invisible people.

Roldo Bartimole has been reporting since 1959. He came to Cleveland in 1965 to report for the Plain Dealer where he worked twice in the 1960s, left for the Wall Street Journal in 1967. He started publishing his newsletter Point of View in 1968 and ended it in 2000. In 1991 he was awarded the Second Annual Joe Callaway Award for Civic Courage in Washington, D.C. He received the Distinguished Service Award of the Society of Professional Journalists, Cleveland chapter, in 2002, and was named to the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame, 2004. [Photo by Todd Bartimole.]

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Corporates Steal From Cleveland Schools, Want the Rest of Us to Pay Up Now

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