What is the Win-Win Agreement?
The Win-Win Agreement was established in 1986 to bring
stability to the boundaries of Columbus Public Schools and most of the
surrounding suburban school districts, including New Albany-Plain Local
Schools. The agreement enables families who live in areas that were annexed by
the City of Columbus prior to the Agreement to remain in their home school
district. These areas, such as Hampsted Village and most of The Preserve, are
areas that have traditionally been a part of the New Albany-Plain Local School
District, but were annexed from Plain Township into the City of Columbus. Under
the terms of the Win-Win Agreement, unincorporated areas annexed into Columbus
before 1986 are not subsequently moved into the Columbus City School District.
Instead, those areas remain in their suburban school district even though they
are now located within the corporation limits of the City of Columbus. For more
information see the History
of the Win-Win Agreement.
The Agreement also provides that township land within the
New Albany-Plain Local School District will automatically transfer to the
Columbus City School District if and when it is annexed by the City of
Columbus. In practice, this means that
as township land is developed and seeks water and sewer from the City of
Columbus, it is annexed into the City and therefore transfers into Columbus
City Schools. This automatic transfer of
territory as land is developed and annexed means that school officials do not
need to include potential development of these areas in their enrollment and
staffing projections.
What are the Financial Aspects of the Win-Win Agreement?
Residents who live in areas of New Albany-Plain Local
Schools that have been annexed into the City of Columbus pay the same school
taxes as everyone else residing in the district. About 29% of the total real
property tax value in the district in 2013 was located in win-win areas of the
district. That equates to more than $14.5 million dollars in taxes from
taxpayers within the win-win areas. Under the terms of the Win-Win Agreement,
New Albany-Plain Local Schools reimburses Columbus City Schools for a portion
of these taxes as partial compensation for the revenue Columbus Schools lost by
not being able to request the transfer of the newly-annexed properties into the
Columbus City School District. In 2015, the district reimbursed Columbus City
Schools for approximately 3.5% of the $14.5 million dollars in taxes collected
from win-win areas. In other words, the
New Albany-Plain Local Schools pays approximately $500,000 to Columbus City
Schools to keep $14 million in revenue from the same territory and receive the
stability and predictability offered by the Agreement.
Note that in prior years, New Albany-Plain Local Schools was
entitled to payments from Columbus City Schools relating to valuation of the
property that was automatically transferred to Columbus Schools following
annexation. Pursuant to the terms of the
Agreement, these payments ceased when New Albany-Plain Local School’s per-pupil
valuation exceeded that of the Columbus City Schools.