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It’s hard to find school officials who do not believe their districts need more money to provide the best education for children.
With gasoline prices skyrocketing and the state now limiting how much money districts can collect from taxpayers each year, school budgets are even more stretched today. That doesn’t include age-old complaints by school officials that the state and federal governments do not provide enough money for demands they impose.
But Indiana has a remedy that nobody seems interested in. It’s been around since 1976 and only three of the 32 northeast Indiana school districts have even tried to take advantage of it.
Public school districts have the option of establishing an extra fund in their budgets and raising residents’ property taxes to collect money for it. Officials must ask the residents in their districts to vote on the matter at the ballot box as part of a referendum and the money is good for a maximum of seven years before it must be reaffirmed.
If it passes, taxes are raised and districts get more money to put toward whatever they told the state they needed more money for. If it doesn’t, nothing changes.
But most northeast Indiana districts seem to believe the referendum would not pass in these tough economic times, when taxpayers are already concerned about high property taxes and rising prices in other areas.
“It’s a hard-sell to the taxpayer,” Sen. David Long, R-Fort Wayne, “You have to have a motivated base of taxpayers believing this money is necessary to maintain the level of education that school districts are used to providing.”
Even if the referendum did pass, many school officials believe it’s too risky.
School districts would have extra money for however long the referendum stated. But after that period ran out, they would have to take the issue back to the voters for renewal. Officials are afraid that if the referendum did not pass the second time, they would have to find another way to fund the programs and salaries they instituted through the first referendum or eliminate them.
“I just didn’t think the taxpayers would go for that so we’ve never tried,” said Craig Ream, business manager for East Noble County Schools. “I think they feel as if their property taxes have paid for schools.”
Southwest Allen County Schools is the only district in northeast Indiana that currently has the extra levy. The district first took the decision to the voters in 1985 and since then the state made it mandatory for districts to return to voters at most every seven years to get the money reaffirmed.
The seven-year maximum limit for the referendum SACS held in 2003 is running out. The district will campaign to have its funds reinstated in April and the money would arrive in 2010 (see related story). It’s currently collecting $2.6 million and is hoping to raise it to $3 million to maintain small class sizes, the restoration of some previously eliminated programs and its current staffing.
According to the Department of Local Government Finance – the state agency that authorizes the referendums – besides SACS, only Fort Wayne Community Schools and a Whitley County school district have ever attempted to seek the funds in northeast Indiana. Both asked voters in 1985. FWCS failed, and Whitley County – before several districts merged to form Whitley County Consolidated Schools – succeeded.
Of the 61 times the extra money has been sought statewide, it has been approved 27 times.
Other than SACS, MSD Washington Township in Indianapolis, Lafayette School Corporation and Carmel Clay Schools currently have this extra tax.
Attempting to secure more money through the referendum budget seems pretty easy. Basically, districts notify the Department of Local Government Finance they want to hold a referendum, the agency approves the language and terms and school officials take it to their communities.
“As far as we’re concerned, it’s up to the voters,” said Linda Lessaris state supervisor with the Department Local Government Finance. “I don’t know that we’ve ever altered anybody’s request.”
It does not cost anything if districts have the vote during a general or primary election. But if they want to hold a special election, school officials must pay for it. SACS is expecting to pay about $16,000 to hold its referendum next April during a special election.
Fort Wayne Community Schools officials understand rejection from taxpayers. District officials are still licking their wounds from the overwhelming defeat of their proposed $500 million building project last summer during a remonstrance.
The main reason was that Fort Wayne residents did not want their taxes raised. That is why it’s been more than 20 years since FWCS officials tried to impose the extra tax on residents.
“Obviously we had a challenge in getting the public to understand what our needs are,” said Kathy Friend, chief financial officer. “I don’t think the public would be ready for us to have a referendum.”
The FWCS community is more diverse in age and many residents don’t have children in the school district, but SACS has a lot of parents whose children would benefit from the extra money, Friend said.
“They have more people who have a vested interest in what happens in their school district,” Friend said.
Even if FWCS was victorious in securing the extra money, it would be hard to devote it to hiring new teachers or reducing class sizes. Many schools don’t have classroom space to spare, so there would be no place to put the extra teachers, Friend said.
Friend is also concerned about the time limit on the revenue.
If the money was not reinstated after the seven-year limit, officials would have to reduce everything they had implemented, she said.
Friend’s concerns are shared by many northeast Indiana school officials. Northwest Allen County Schools could use the extra money.
The state rejected NACS’ effort to raise the levy on its transportation budget and the district recently eliminated several librarians because of budget cuts. But officials are afraid taxpayers wouldn’t support the tax.
“It was more of a comfort level with our board versus it being a bad thing or a good thing,” said Bill Mallers, business manager. “It was just that our board didn’t feel comfortable pursuing it.”
Regional superintendents and business managers are comfortable spending what they’re allotted.
“We try to live within our budget that we have, basically. Our community ranges from very high income to very low income and we’re trying to work with what we have so that we don’t have to have additional taxes for our folks,” said Paul Thomas, superintendent of Prairie Heights Community Schools in LaGrange County.
“I think whenever you have a referendum that says, ‘Do you want to increase your taxes?’ I think most people would vote no, because there’s very few times when people say, ‘Tax me more.’ ”
