In the wake of the defeat of Ohio Gov. John Kasich's reforms limiting collective bargaining rights and requiring greater contributions for health care for public sector workers, the governor warned that towns and school districts were going to have to do their best to balance their own budgets because there isn't much state money to bail out localities that can't negotiate concessions from local government unions. That won't be easy. Government has been one of the biggest boom industries in Ohio for decades now and it was the cost of a swollen public sector that Kasich was trying to restrain.
Back in 1977, for instance, when the Tax Foundation first started tracking state tax burdens, Ohio was way back of the pack, with a tax burden that was only 40th in the country. Per capita personal income in the state was equal to the national average. Since then, Ohio state and local governments have been on a public sector hiring spree, private employment has stagnated in many parts of the state, and the tax burden has soared.
From the 1980 census to 2010, Ohio's population has grown less than 7 percent. But its public sector workforce has increased by 17 percent. That's a far faster rate of growth of the public sector relative to its population than most states. At the same time taxes have soared, so that today, the state's tax burden is 18th highest, and significantly, its business tax burden is 10th highest. No wonder that executives surveyed by CEO magazine voted Ohio one of the less friendly places to do business. Today, the state's per capita personal income is 12 percent lower than the national average.
This is also why the state capital, Columbus, is one of the few growth areas in Ohio. Going back to 1990 (the earliest data available on the BLS website for Ohio metro areas), employment in greater Columbus is up nearly 25 percent. Meanwhile, it's down in greater Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown, and up only slightly in Akron.
Ohio is, in short, a public sector trending state. What's less clear is that who will pay for that burden in Ohio.
From the 1980 census to 2010, Ohio's population has grown less than 7 percent. But its public sector workforce has increased by 17 percent. That's a far faster rate of growth of the public sector relative to its population than most states. At the same time taxes have soared, so that today, the state's tax burden is 18th highest, and significantly, its business tax burden is 10th highest. No wonder that executives surveyed by CEO magazine voted Ohio one of the less friendly places to do business. Today, the state's per capita personal income is 12 percent lower than the national average.
This is also why the state capital, Columbus, is one of the few growth areas in Ohio. Going back to 1990 (the earliest data available on the BLS website for Ohio metro areas), employment in greater Columbus is up nearly 25 percent. Meanwhile, it's down in greater Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown, and up only slightly in Akron.
Ohio is, in short, a public sector trending state. What's less clear is that who will pay for that burden in Ohio.
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