Wednesday, March 7, 2001
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Wednesday, March 7, 2001 |
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Bill threatens local taxation decisions By AMY RILEY One of this year's important pieces of legislation, House Bill 656, is expected to hit the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives this week. HB 656 extends the 2000 session Education Reform Act by restoring funding for paraprofessionals in kindergarten, phasing in an end to social promotion, and adding additional funding for new schools to meet the mandate of smaller teacher to student ratios in last year's bill. But there something hiding in HB 656 that may have a significant impact on Fayette county if passed "as is" without amendment. In the section of the bill which addresses capital outlay for schools construction, HB 656 mandates a change in how a local district's ability to pay for new schools is calculated. Currently the Local Ability Ratio (LAR) is figured by calculating a district's local property tax wealth, and includes a provision for deducting from that amount a portion for what that district may be paying in debt service on existing bonds for building new schools. Under the new plan, local "wealth" will be calculated using local property tax and the value of 1 percent sales tax revenue for that county. Here's the kicker. The 1 percent sales tax will be counted whether or not a district has actually passed a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for the construction of new schools. In addition, HB 656 will eliminate the allowance for subtracting off indebtedness for existing bonds for new schools. Why the change? In school districts with large retail centers, school systems who are using the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax to fund new schools are generating large sums of money that is not being considered in their ability to pay ratio. Therefore, they are qualifying for a higher percentage of matching funds from the state to defray some of their costs as if they do not have all of that SPLOST money coming in. This was seen as an unfair system. That makes sense. If a district's voters have voted in a SPLOST, that money should be counted in their local ability ratio. There are only a handful of school systems left in the state who have not voted in a SPLOST, and Fayette is one of them, as you know. But what sense can be made from counting the 1 percent in sales tax revenue even when a district's voters have not voted in a SPLOST? None. The language in HB 656 is a little ambiguous, but there is no ambiguity in the intent. To confirm the state's intention, I contacted the governor's office. Terry Gandy, Division Director in the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget confirmed that the 1 percent equivalent in sales tax revenue would indeed be counted for all districts. What does this mean for Fayette? It means that our ability to pay ratio will go from the current 10 percent ratio, which has been "bought down" by debt service to our bonds, to the current estimate under HB 656 of 19.08 percent. The estimate is based on the 1999 sales tax figures for Fayette, so expect that local ability ratio to go even higher with the adjusted figures for 2000. State Representative Kathy Cox is aware of the potential impact for Fayette, and is not pleased with the ambiguity of the wording. Procedurally, she can introduce an amendment when the bill comes to the floor, and she plans to do that, but believes that it won't pass muster with the Democrats in the House. Rep. Cox is angry and concerned about the bill's impact on Fayette county. Cox stated on Monday, "Should we as a county be penalized because we chose not to implement the most regressive kind of tax there is a tax that hurts the poorest people and people on fixed incomes the most?" As an advocate for limited government, and a believer that the government is "the people," I resent the current trend towards centralization of power at the state level. Not satisfied with diluting the power of our local elected officials with the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, the Atlanta Regional Commission, and the proposed regional water authority, they now want to dictate through funding sanctions how we "choose" to pay for new schools. Cox agrees. "This is absolutely another attempt by the state to dictate not only what we're going to build, how we're going to build it, but now how we're going to pay for it, too." Fayette county should have 100 percent latitude in determining what type of funding we will support for new schools construction. HB 656 clearly represents "strings" which would attempt to hog-tie Fayette residents into a SPLOST-only funding mechanism. What is happening to local control? EDUCATION FIRST WATCH: Suzanne Coker and Lisa Tappy have requested a rezoning from A-R to R-45 for 72.55 acres to build a 49 lot single-family residential subdivision. If passed, the rezoning could add an estimated 73 additional students to the North Fayette, Flat Rock, Sandy Creek cluster. To comment, call the Fayette County Zoning Dept. at 770-460-5730. [Your comments are welcome at: ARileyFreePress@aol.com.]
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