Wednesday, September 20, 2000
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Wednesday, September 20, 2000 |
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Board of Education By DAVE HAMRICK Board members Monday voted to reduce property tax rates, but will have to conduct a series of public hearings as if the board were increasing taxes. That's because of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, a new state law that requires county and city governments and school boards to either roll back the property tax rate to erase any windfall from property reappraisals or treat the extra income as a tax increase. The new law requires three public hearings. The board voted 4-1, with Woody Shelnutt opposed, to reduce its maintenance and operation tax rate from 19.84 mills to 19.061 mills, and reduce its rate for bonded indebtedness from 3.69 mills to 3.325 mills. A mill is one dollar per thousand of a property's assessed value, which is 40 percent of its market value, minus exemptions. The market value of most Fayette properties was increased this year in a state-mandated reappraisal of properties county-wide. The board's tax rate reduction is not enough to negate the increased revenue due to the reappraisals, which accounts for more than half of the increase in property values used to calculate taxes. The remainder of the value increase comes from new construction and other changes. Reducing the M&O rate to 18.79 mills to avoid the public hearings would have forced the school system to reduce its budget $124.1 million budget by $1 million, and board members said they have already cut the budget to the bone. "We went through a great deal of cutting to get a bare bones budget as it is," said board Chairman Debbie Condon. "I'm willing to have the three meetings so that the children get what they need. Shelnutt argued for making the additional cuts. "Would it not be wiser, with a bond issue on the ballot this November, to show our good faith that we're not going to double dip this fall," he said. "I think we could make the budget without having to raise the taxes," Shelnutt said. Board finance director Jim Stephens said if the board wanted to reduce taxes enough to negate the reassessments, it would have take the money from the normal allowance it sets aside in case there is a larger than usual amount of uncollectible taxes. "This is also known as the 'cut your own throat' option," he said. Public hearings are scheduled for Sept. 28 at 8 a.m., and Oct. 5 at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the school board's offices.
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