Here's yet another lesson on why lawmakers should bother to actually study radical changes in tax policy before they approve them. Some school districts have been raising their tax rates to get a better deal when the state changes the funding formula next year.

How districts benefit: Lawmakers plan to eliminate school operating costs from owner-occupied home tax bills. The state will take over those funding responsibilities with money from a new sales tax. The money coming from the state will be based on how much districts collect this year from property taxes. Therefore, the higher the district's tax rate now, the more money the district receives from the state next year.

Officials report that some school districts have been raising tax rates. Locally, Spartanburg's District 5, which includes parts of Greer, raised its tax rate by 36 mills. The Pickens school board raised millage by 4 mills.

It's not certain that any district in the state raised taxes just to take advantage of the state funding formula -- and indeed, Spartanburg District 5 officials point out that 26 mills of the 36-mill increase is for capital expenses, which do not qualify for state tax relief. But what is certain is that the Legislature, in its haste to enact a politically popular tax swap, created a perverse incentive for school districts to raise taxes in the short term so they could benefit from more state money in the near future.

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That, of course, is only one of several concerns with the tax swap. The biggest concern is that the tax swap provides a huge windfall for owners of expensive homes while renters and owners of more modest homes actually will pay higher taxes through the new sales tax.

The tax swap also is an assault on local control. By usurping local school district taxing authority, the state is robbing districts of their decision-making authority when it comes to such things as raising teacher salaries or paying for new programs. Reacting to this loss of local control, Moody's Investors Service recently put a negative outlook on public school borrowing in the state. That could lower credit ratings for school districts, costing schools more money when borrowing for capital expenses.

Lawmakers also are swapping a highly stable tax -- the property tax -- for a less stable one -- the sales tax. Lawmakers devoted a great deal of political passion but not much critical analysis to this tax plan. The tax swap is likely to please wealthier homeowners, but it's certainly not good for the state as a whole.