TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

State Lawmakers Deserve Blame For School Property Tax Hike

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 28, 2008

Taxpayers, your school taxes are going up this year - even though you were promised they would "drop like a rock." You should feel hoodwinked.

But make sure you direct your anger at the right people.

Though the Hillsborough School Board has the task of raising your taxes, those responsible for the increase are Gov. Charlie Crist and state lawmakers, the very ones who've done such grandstanding about the need to cut property taxes.

The portion of school taxes in Hillsborough that is increasing is what is called the "required local effort" - the tax rate dictated to the district by Tallahassee each year.

The required local effort millage is increasing from about $4.78 for every $1,000 of taxable property to $5.30. That's nearly an 11 percent increase.

The part of the tax bill controlled by the school board - the discretionary and supplemental millage rates - is actually going down, from nearly 74 cents per $1,000 to about 72 cents. It's small, but a decrease nevertheless.

The Hillsborough School Board has no choice but to take the tax rate dictated by Tallahassee if it wants to participate in Florida's public school financing program. Compared to property-rich counties with smaller school enrollments - like Pinellas and Sarasota - Hillsborough does better in that program than if it were to try to go it alone.

Hillsborough collects about $451 million through the required local effort, but receives about $553 million in state funding.

But it comes at a price - least of all the rhetoric that comes from state lawmakers and the governor.

They're the ones who have been pounding the table about property taxes being too high while quietly raising the largest slice of residents' tax bill. Since fiscal year 2000-01, the required local effort for public schools has increased by $4.1 billion, while the state's general revenue contribution to schools has declined.

Florida's tax structure is such a mess that long-time homeowners who have been protected from rising taxes under Save Our Homes get no break on this one. A little-known quirk in the law allows for their assessments to go up, even as property values have gone down.

This doesn't mean local school board members are off the hook. They do control how tax money is spent.

This board should impose strict spending limits, including cuts to the consultant fees, lobbying services, travel and other nonessential spending.

The district spends nearly $1.1 million on the board and $10.2 million on general administration - a small portion of a $3 billion overall budget, but how that money is handled speaks to voters about whether this is a board that hears its constituents.

People are mad about their taxes, but they are also angry at the way their tax money is spent.

The school board may have little control over the former, but the latter is squarely in their hands.

So taxpayers have good reason to scrutinize school board spending. But they also need to observe how large the gap is between what elected officials in Tallahassee say and what they do.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT