The Garden Christian Academy (GCA) is partnered with a great organization called the Ohio Christian Education Network Scholarship Granting Organization, also known as “OCEN SGO” or just plain “SGO”. Certified by the Ohio Attorney General, the OCEN SGO is sanctioned to collect payments designated for GCA or another of the OCEN SGO’s member schools. Individuals can make a payment of up to $750, while a couple can make a payment of up to $1,500. The OCEN SGO then completely remits these funds to the designated school, providing its students with direct scholarship funds.

What makes this program exceptional is its unique structure and additional benefits. The reason that anyone would choose make a payment to the OCEN SGO, instead of making a traditional charitable contribution directly to GCA, is because of the OCEN SGO’s unique ability to guarantee and provide a true dollar-for-dollar, state-of-Ohio tax credit to each program participant, up to the maximum limits.

This special tax credit, awarded via the OCEN SGO, is different from the traditional charitable contribution mechanism that most people know, providing greater advantages. First, the tax credit provided by this program is a true tax credit, not a tax deduction—meaning it reduces the amount of a taxpayer’s tax liability owed to the state, dollar-for-dollar, whereas a regular charitable gift is a simple tax deduction, or a simple reduction in the taxpayer’s gross taxable income—not a reduction in their actual tax liability.

Additionally, the tax credit provided for by the OCEN SGO guarantees that friends of GCA will directly and completely recoup, dollar-for-dollar, any amount(s) paid to the OCEN SGO for this purpose, with two important conditions:

1. These dollar-for-dollar Ohio-tax credits are capped at $750 for an individual, or $1,500 for a couple filing their taxes jointly.

2. These dollar-for-dollar Ohio-tax credits cannot exceed a person (or a couple)’s annual tax liability (i.e. the total that one owes the state in taxes for the year).

The guaranteed return payment of the credit, in real dollars to the individual or couple, is triggered when the taxpayer files his or her annual state income tax return.

Enacted in 2021 as part of Ohio House Bill 110 (Section 5747.73), the result of this program is that individuals and households in Ohio are entitled to make what are in essence completely refundable, recoupable contributions in the form of educational scholarships to GCA and/or any other participating Ohio-based Christian schools of their choosing, while at the same time reducing the taxes they owe to the state of Ohio.