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Local
lawmakers say ‘no’ to giving schools tax, budget power
May
29, 2003
By MAYA
HOLLINSHEAD
Index-Journal
staff writer
School
boards in Greenwood County won’t soon be given the authority
to levy taxes to support their budgets.
Members of the
Greenwood County legislative delegation said the limited
fiscal autonomy the school districts sought does not have
enough support to have it sent to the General Assembly for
approval.
The Greenwood District 50 school board has for
the past several months sought the delegation’s support for
limited autonomy. In a request sent to the delegation last
week, limited autonomy was also requested by Ware Shoals and
Ninety Six school districts because the superintendents and
boards expressed interest.
Limited fiscal autonomy would
allow districts to set their own budgets and levy taxes,
within predetermined limits. Some districts can increase taxes
up to 10 mills in a three-year period while others may seek a
referendum to increase millage rates above a certain
level.
The districts currently must have their budgets and
tax increases approved by County Council.
The three
representatives for the county said the decision not to
support the school district’s efforts was based largely on
comments they received from residents. Reps. Gene Pinson, Anne
Parks and Mike Pitts said they received hundreds of letters,
e-mails and calls about the matter in opposition to granting
the limited taxing power.
“It was due to overwhelming
opposition,” Pinson, R-Greenwood, said.
“Most people feel
we have a good checks-and-balances system in place.”
“The
response I’ve gotten from the community is that the school
board doesn’t need fiscal autonomy,” Parks, D-Greenwood, said.
“They feel if the school district receives fiscal autonomy,
they will raise taxes every year. If the school district has
autonomy, County Council would have to come from behind and
raise taxes for other county agencies.”
Pitts, R-Hickory
Tavern, said his decision not to support it was also because
of budget debates in the General Assembly.
“I reached my
opinion to abort the issue when I began to realize in the
House budget deliberations that the picture was limited (to)
the school and education community,” Pitts said. “I kept a
file of e-mails that called for increasing taxes at all costs.
I’ve sent e-mails responding back asking to define ‘fully fund
education’ and I have not received a single
reply.”
Representatives from the county’s three school
districts said they had not heard about the delegation’s stand
on the autonomy issue.
“We will certainty look forward to
further discussions about this next year,” Greenwood District
50 Chairwoman Dru James said. “For us to be accountable for
student achievement, we need to have some limited fiscal
autonomy. The other district advantage is planning and letting
people in the district know which jobs are
available.”
“We’ll continue to go by the same system that
we’ve gone by, which is go through the county,” Ware Shoals
District 51 Superintendent Fay Sprouse said.
“I’m
disappointed that it’s not going through,” Ninety Six District
52 Superintendent Dan Powell said. “The school board is
elected by the voters to be representatives for the school
district. It makes sense for the board to have the authority
to provide the funding.”
James said she thinks there is
support in the community for limited autonomy.
“I think we
need to inform the people more to let the delegation hear both
sides of the issue,” she said.
Greenwood County Council
Chairman Robbie Templeton said the General Assembly is not
fulfilling its obligations to education, but he doesn’t think
there ought to be another taxing body in the county.
“In
council, we need to see the overall tax picture,” Templeton
said. “If you get the school board setting millage, they may
not know the tax burden. It’s our job to know the tax
burden.”
Councilman Gonza Bryant agrees with the
delegation’s decision.
“It (the current system) gives
County Council and the school boards an opportunity to work
together and make sure the taxes stay as low as possible,”
Bryant said.
Councilman Patrick Moody declined to comment
on the delegation’s decision, but said council will carefully
review the districts’ requests and weigh all of the factors
before making a final decision.
“Since they don’t have that
fiscal autonomy, we will have to approve the budget like we’ve
done in the past,” Moody said.
The representatives agreed
that autonomy would not have gone well with taxpayers.
“I
think it’s bad timing,” Pinson said. “We got too many boards
and committees having the authority to raise fees or taxes as
is. People are just a little bit worried about another body
raising revenue.”
“My concern was with the property owners
in Greenwood County because of the different entities having
the authority to raise taxes,” Parks said. “One doesn’t have
to consult the other and all could raise taxes at the same
time. It’s not fair to the property owners.”
“After this
year’s budget process, I’m inclined to agree with the
opposition on autonomy from the standpoint that a taxing
authority should be broad in focus and the school board has
one issue, which is education,” Pitts said.
County Council
and school officials will meet next week to discuss school
budgets.
Maya Hollinshead covers local government
and general assignments in Greenwood and the Lakelands. She
can be reached at 223-1811, ext. 3305 or:
mhollinshead@indexjournal.com
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