The Ohio School Facilities Commission can't dictate how much construction companies pay their workers to build schools, but it has nevertheless started requiring them to report their payroll.

Union companies are hailing the change as a way to squeeze cheaters out of taxpayer-funded school construction, but at least one other contractor is labeling the move a union tactic.

The commission recently notified contractors that they must begin submitting certified payroll records on all their school projects, said Executive Director Mike Shoemaker.

The move is not related to other recent changes that allow school districts to pay the "prevailing wage," which in Ohio is based on union wages, he said.

The administration of former Gov. Bob Taft prohibited school districts from paying prevailing wage if they are using state school-construction money. But after the commission came under pressure from Gov. Ted Strickland, it reversed that policy. It also now allows districts to enter into "project labor agreements," in which unions determine wages and benefits on a job before contractors bid for it.

Ohio's governor appoints two of the three voting members of the commission, created by the state legislature in 1997 to facilitate and subsidize the replacement of aging school buildings. The commission was formed after the Ohio Supreme Court found the state's funding of schools to be unconstitutional.

Shoemaker said the certified payroll change ensures only that when changes are negotiated to existing contracts, the state has a way to measure how much additional work should cost.

"We want to make sure what (the companies) are paid for is what they paid to the workers," he said. "We just need some documentation to back that up."

The change will help unions recruit members, said Scott Teepe, president of TP Mechanical Contractors, a nonunion company based in Cincinnati.

"That's what the unions want," Teepe said. "They want to be able to see the names so they can call our guys and offer them more money.

"We pay our guys based on their merits and what they're capable of. Some of our guys are making a lot more than union guys."

Having to report certified payroll should discourage contractors from paying illegal immigrants substandard wages under the table to build schools, said Calvin Jefferson, who works for Cleveland public-relations firm BMA Media Group, which represents members of the Ohio Construction Coalition.

"It's going to save taxpayers money and it's going to stop nonresponsible contractors from doing things they shouldn't be doing," Jefferson said.

The commission will verify the payrolls by doing spot visits to work sites and asking workers what they are being paid. It could potentially follow up by reviewing companies' books.

As long as no one is lying, there won't be a problem, Shoemaker said.

"If somebody isn't going to be honest with me, then I don't want them working on our projects," Shoemaker said. "We're going to spend $4 billion here in the next few years and there are a lot of folks who would like to work with us.

"We don't believe this is overly burdensome. (Critics') concern is the information will be misused. Well, that's not our intent."

bbush@dispatch.com

The payroll change ensures that the state has a way to measure how much additional work should cost, a commission official said.