Agenda - 04-30-2007-e - Laserfiche WebLink

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Both districts are worried about how the capital program. is going to affect their operating budgets; she said. These aze enormous challenges. If you can come up with something then that would be enormously helpful.. If not, then we will do our jobs. In response to a question from Commissioner Gordon, Mr. Whitling clarified that the proposal to raise the ad valorem tax by two cents involves an annual increase for an unspecific amount of time. The two cents would be dedicated to education, on top of the three cents to be recommended this yeaz by the Manager, Ms. Bedford added. The increase would be two cents the first year, four cents the second year, six cents the third year, said Mr. Whitling. Perhaps after the third year we would see if the funding levels are adequate. Commissioner Gordon said that the details of the. proposal need to be developed further so that everyone can understand it. In response to a question from Mr. Link, Mr. Whitling explained that it would not be necessary to raise the ad valorem tax by two cents for OCS and then another 2.6-cents for CHCCS. The proposal is to raise the tax by two cents per yeaz to generate funds. for both districts. Last year, for example, the two cents would have gotten OCS $931,000, he said, and CHCCS $1.4 million. Last yeaz, if the Commissioners would have raised the ad valorem by two cents, Mr. Whitling added, the district tax could have been. lowered instead of raised. Mr. Link questioned whether CHCCS would ga along with any plan that would reduce the district tax while the city district's requested budget increase is not fully funded by the ad valorem. Ms. Bedford said that if the city district's budget request were not met through a raise in the ad valorem, the city schools would want to retain the option of meeting its own needs with its district tax. Mr. Link then said "what we should~be talking about" is a nine-cent raise in ad valorem taxes. This year the Manager is recommending athree-cent increase, which covers only the 8% rise in teacher's salaries. If the Commissioners now have, say, seven cents total in the Manager's recommended budget for increasing the County budget -- including the Mana.ger's three cents foreducation -- and they went up by another two cents per the proposal under discussion in this group today, then the impact on ad valorem taxes would be nine cents. Mr. Link continued trying to clarify the proposal. The two cents would be divided on a per pupil basis between the two districts, he said. And what is the "give and take" in this scenario? Would the city district be willing to reduce the district tax in the first yeaz, he asked. Maybe you don't require them fo reduce the district tax in the first year, he said. Maybe you hold them harmless the first year, and then work out in the subsequent three years how you go about reducing the district tax. Mr. Link noted that those who now are paying .84 per $100 would pay .93 if the ad valorem tax were raised by nine cents. "How would you sell that to the public," he asked? In subsequent years, revaluation might provide some relief, but that's. still an increase of two cents per year every year. Commissioner Gordon added that the numbers 10