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A few years ago, the voters of Fayette County decided to limit the school property tax growth due to increased property value to three percent a year. The remainder of the growth is restricted by a homestead exemption. Others argue that this additional homestead exemption unfairly limits the funds available to our schools. I disagree.
It’s important to note that in the current salary market a raise of three percent is considered at least standard if not more. The paychecks of Fayette County families have not maintained pace with the growth in costs in the current economy. Worse, even if the property increased in value more than three percent, the property owner does not have access to that cash unless they sell that property.
Now, there is a bill (SB 349) in our Georgia Senate to limit all property valuation increases at 3% which would equalize Fayette’s homestead exemption with all other systems. Today, many systems use double digit property growth to cover the increased school costs of recent years without raising school tax rates.
With a standard homestead exemption across Georgia, many systems, not just Fayette, will have to consider raising rates to maintain their school systems or decide to eliminate options for students. Fayette is already signaling they will eliminate teaching positions and increase class size, thus decreasing “the Fayette Advantage.”
Fayette County school tax is currently at 19.25 mills, which is near the maximum of twenty mills allowed by law without the permission of the voters.
That last part is important. The FCBOE can ask the voters to allow them to increase the school property tax over twenty mills. Currently there are a few systems over twenty mills with DeKalb the most notable at 22.98 mills.
Some will argue that we are taxed enough and that the schools must “live within their means.” Fayette is one of the few counties that voted down an ESPLOST. We the voters have proven to take these votes seriously, not just blindly voting on ideology or emotion, but voting based on information.
To be clear, I am not taking a position one way or the other, as I would need to see the case presented. Some are willing to hurt our schools to make a point without discussing our options; I am not.
When our citizen group, Fayette Citizen for Children, made our case in 2008, we presented the data to the voters and we the voters decided to grant our FCBOE the authority by only a few hundred votes. In 2012, the FCBOE proved we could trust their word, and the ESPLOST was renewed again by less than a thousand votes. Both votes were during a presidential election where all sides were coming to vote.
It is important to note that the FCBOE wisely avoided projects that would seem wasteful to the public like the aquatic center in ESPLOST I, astroturf for all in ESPLOST II, and the arts center in ESPLOST III.
In each election, all voter questions were discussed and answered in public forums such as the blogs of this newspaper. I can remember getting the pricing of routers for the “Classroom of tomorrow” and a commenter saying that Mr. Creely (FCBOE IT director at the time) did an excellent job of sourcing.
My point is that a partnership between the FCBOE is possible to preserve the Fayette Advantage. Not with an argument “to do it for the kids,” but rather proving a transparent and credible plan.
A vital part of any plan starts with good cost control that preserves vital needed resources at the cost of non-productive or non-vital resources.
[Neil Sullivan is a finance/accounting executive and CPA. He has lived in Peachtree City over 20 years with his wife Jennifer, a Fayette County History teacher and son Jackson, a student at Erskine College. He has been active in public school related issues in Fayette County, leading three E-SPLOST initiatives as chairman of Fayette Citizens for Children. He has appeared previously on these pages in letters to the editor.]
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