Last Monday I heard fellow bloggers, David Esrati and Gary Leitzell, make short speeches at the McCook Field Neighborhood Association meeting, held in the basement of Calvary Baptist Church. David is a candidate for the office of Dayton City Commissioner and Gary is a candidate for the office of The Mayor of Dayton.  I know Gary through his web-site, “This Old Crack House.” I was positively impressed with his presentation. Gary comes across as a thoughtful problem solver dedicated to the general common good of the community.  Members of the McCook group seemed interested.

Garay Leitzell at the McCook meeting

I know David Esrati from the Montgomery County Democratic Party, where we are both members of the Central Committee. And I know him from the beginnings of DaytonOS. David gave DaytonOS its sphinx like name, a name that proposes an interesting question of how a web-site could be a region’s Operating System.

David gave a fact filled presentation that demonstrated a very impressive grasp of what now is happening in Dayton, and what the future challenges to Dayton will be. David comes across as a well informed idea person who enjoys defining and analyzing innovative ways for our community to become healthier and more successful. David’s web-site is Esrati. Recently David posted a YouTube video on his site, showing his presentation to the Dayton Marketing Community “Big Idea Breakfast” about the Dayton Bicycle bike share program that he is promoting.

Both David and Gary, I believe, are well qualified for the positions they seek. I believe both have the character, the commitment to the public good, and the problem solving skills that should cause Dayton voters to take a serious look. It would be great if the coming campaign could be a meaningful dialogue between these candidate and the current incumbents of the offices they seek to win. There’s a lot to talk about and the time of an election gives a big opportunity for engaging and educating the public about issues facing the community. But, if history is any guide, the incumbents will most likely choose an antidemocratic strategy, they believe will assure them victory, and will more or less stonewall the whole election. After all, the politburo of The Montgomery County Democratic Party has spoken, and the incumbents are the anointed ones.

David Esrati

The fundamental issue facing our community is: Can we make our democracy work? My advice to both David and Gary is to make their campaigns all about the issue of democracy, and to use their campaigns to help implement strategies to make democracy work. My suggestion is that their candidacies and the vitality of future elections can be helped by deliberate efforts to build up a nonpartisan organization, Grassroots Dayton, that I would love to see come to life.

The campaign for City Council or Mayor should not focus on which candidate is in favor of a Dayton Sportsplex or how Dayton garbage collection can be improved. We need to get the citizenry to look at the big picture. My advice is to not focus on the smaller parts and, instead, take the perspective of the big picture. In the big picture, it is obvious that our system is failing. The answer to our problems is a system answer. I’ve frequently quoted W. Edwards Deming’s big insight that 85% of quality problems in a system stem from how the system is organized — not from the individuals in the system, nor individual components in the system. (See my article, “How Can The System Known As The United States Be Made To Work To Provide “Liberty and Justice For All?“)

Systems thinking leads to this punch line: Right now, we have a oligarchic, antidemocratic system that is organized for the benefit of special interests. We need to move to a system of democracy. We need to make our system of democracy work. We need to vitalize its current structures.

We can never have a government “for the people” unless we first have a government “of the people.” Everywhere you look, democracy is suppressed. I think it would appeal to a lot of voters the idea that a candidate has a plan he will commit to, and that in his campaign he works to implement, by which there is a realistic prospect that our democracy will be vitalized.

David and Gary both have good ideas, but, the point is, how do we vitalize a system that doesn’t rely on the ideas of one or two individuals but that regularly empowers the best ideas of many in the system to come to the fore, and that regularly works in the interest of the common good? How do we vitalize our democracy? How do we use democracy to help us to successfully work through problems? How do we make our system of democracy work? This is the key question. Oligarchy and cliques have failed us.

I’m thinking that the answer to each of these questions should be part of Grassroots Dayton’s strategic plan and each of your campaigns could help develop a nonpartisan grassroots community that will outlast this political season. My advice is to make this campaign to choose Dayton’s leaders all about the big picture — all about democracy, all about vitalizing the system of democracy we say we believe in.

I’ve been reading the documents promoting the Kettering schools 6.9 mill renewal levy, mailed to Kettering voters. You would think that an organization focused on public education would use the opportunity of a school levy to educate the public about how property tax actually works. But the documents promoting the Kettering levy are not focused on educating voters about this important public issue.  Instead, they are focused on selling voters on voting “Yes.”

Unfortunately, a Kettering resident, by studying about the renewal levy in Kettering’s “Blue Ribbon Report,” sent to all Kettering households, would be much less educated about property tax than if he or she had not studied the report at all. Realizing that you don’t understand something is much better than wrongly believing that you do.

Part of the Blue Ribbon Report is Q&A. Here is a one question from the report: “What is the average Kettering property owner paying for this operating issue that is up for renewal?”

And here is the correct answer: The current average listing price for houses in Kettering is $164,932. This seems a fair definition of “average Kettering property.” If the county auditor values a property at $164,932, then the tax requirement for this property for this renewal levy would be determined as follows: 35% of $164,932 = 57,726 (the taxable amount); the current effective rate for this levy is now 6.162 mills ($6.162 per $1000 of taxable property), so, 57,726/1000 = 57.726 and 57.726 X 6.162 = $355.71. After the 12.5% rollback this becomes $311.24. So, the average Kettering property owner house is now paying: $311.24 each year for this renewal levy.

A report seeking to educate, not just sell, would have made similar explanation and, further, would have explained that the approval of this 6.9 mill levy authorizes the county auditor, if necessary, to raise the effective rate of this levy up to 6.9 mills, a 12% increase of the current effective rate of 6.162 mills.

A report that sought to educate would point out that just last year the effective tax rate for this levy increased from 6.13 mills to 6.162 mills, an increase of 3.2 cents per $1000 of taxable property. This renewal levy cost the property owner of the average property in Kettering, discussed above, $1.62 more in tax this year than what it cost last year. A report that sought to educate would explain why this increase occurred. The increase in rate occurred because this levy was approved to raise $8.2 million and if the tax base shrinks, then in order to raise this $8.2 million, the effective rate must go up. The maximum this rate can increase is 12% higher than the rate is now, because the effective rate limit is 6.9 mills. If the tax base erodes to the point where 6.9 mills fails to raise $8.2 million, then revenue to Kettering Schools from this levy will decrease to below $8.2 million.

The average Kettering home, now taxed $311.24 for this renewal, within five years, with zero increase in accessed value, could be taxed up to $348.59, a maximum increase of 12% of $311.24 or $37.35.

Kettering Schools should have explained all of this in their levy literature. They should have had an easily accessed explanation on the web. But, nothing. No explanation in the literature and no web-site explanation at all. I think Kettering voters would appreciate their school leaders treating them as adults, as fully empowered stake holders in Kettering Schools.

The “Blue Ribbon Report’s” answer to the question — “what would the average property owner pay?” — ignores the question of what “average property” in Kettering means. Instead, the report says, “The owner of a $100,000 home in Kettering is paying approximately $17 per month on this operating issue.”

Ouch. For a $100,000 property, this amount is wrong. Whoever edits “The Blue Ribbon Report” failed to catch the error. $17 per month is $204 per year. The correct amount is $189 per year, as correctly reported by the DDN in its editorial supporting the levy. I wonder if the school district has had any complaints that this misinformation?

Rather than educating voters in Kettering, “The Blue Ribbon Report” gives wrong information and leads voters to believe statements about their property tax obligation that is not true.  If people need the best property related advices, eXp Realty’s website should be checked out! The report says, “There will be absolutely no increases in taxes as a result of this Renewal Levy.” This is a true statement, only if the word “taxes” has the specific meaning “total revenue generated by this levy.” It is true that this 6.9 mill levy will never be allowed to collect a total revenue of more than $8.2 million. The community as a whole will pay no more taxes, only $8.2 million, but individual tax payers will be required to pay more in order to generate this $8.2 million.

A promise of “absolutely no increase in taxes,” to 99% of voters is a promise that their effective tax rate will not increase, and that if their property value stays constant, their tax obligation for this levy will not increase. This is wrong. The “Blue Ribbon Report” causes voters to believe something to be true that is simply not true.

The Levy Committee sent a number of letters to targeted groups of voters. (I write about it here.) I requested and received a copy of each of these letters. A letter, signed by each Kettering board member, says, “Because this is a RENEWAL LEVY, approval of ISSUE 12 will not raise your taxes one penny.” Underlined and in bold print. This is a true statement only if this statement is addressed to the City of Kettering as a whole and “your taxes” means that this $8.2 million total tax revenue will not increase. The individual property owner will see their taxes go up a bunch of pennies. (The average increase, over a five year period, is as much as $37.35.)

I’d really be embarrassed to have my name attached to such misleading advertisement.

A sign sent to voters with the message “Please post this note on your refrigerator as a reminder!”, gives this message, “Passage will not cost the community one cent more in additional taxes.” The word “cost” usually means, “the amount that one is required to pay.” Again, this statement is sowing misinformation.

A letter sent to Oakview Elementary School parents says, “Remember this issue won’t cost any of us one cent more in taxes.” Oops. Someone went too far. I can’t find a way to define these words, even in some very narrow absurd way, by which this Oakview statement could possibly be defended as truthful.

Another letter says, about the 6.9 renewal levy, “It won’t cost us a penny more in taxes.” This statement is true, only if its meaning is “it won’t cost the school system one penny lost in tax revenue of $8.2 million,” hardly what anyone reading such a phrase would understand it to mean.

Again, I’d be embarrassed as a teacher or principal to attempt to explain to an inquiring voter why such misleading advertisement was used.

The letters acknowledge that the economy is in a rough period. One letter says, “These are very challenging times for everyone.” Another letter says, “In these challenging economic times, supporting our schools is more important than ever.”

But nothing in these levy advertisement letters begins to explain the implication of these challenging economic times for property tax owners.   Not a word is said about the fact that Kettering’s tax base is shrinking and therefore to raise the same revenue, tax rates must go up. If the tax based shrinks to where it was in 2004, then the effective rate of this levy will return to where it started, 6.9 mills. This is a 12% increase.

If Kettering Schools had wanted to design a levy that would have guaranteed a “ZERO Increase In Taxes,” they would have needed to offered a replacement levy pegged to the current effective rate 6.162 mills.  Then, regardless of a shrinking tax base, the tax to the homeowner would have stayed constant, and, instead, as the tax base shrinks, revenue to Kettering Schools would shrink.

As an organization supposedly focused on education, Kettering Schools, in this levy missed a big opportunity to educate the public about this key issue of public importance, property tax. Schools that fail to be scrupulously honest with voters risk causing dangerous long term erosion of public support. In its zeal to make a short term gain — passing an important school levy — Kettering Schools chose a path that risks causing a long term problem.