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.