Flashpoint » Blog Archive » Why I oppose the loophole sales tax increase

Fiscal responsibility, credibility, accountability, and poverty.

I’ll start with the holy grail of education financial statistics: per pupil spending. In 1999 Madison City Schools had $29M in revenue and an enrollment of 5638. In 2005 the revenue had increased to $46.9M and enrollment increased to 7242. (Source, slide 18) Accounting for inflation, the 1999 revenue would be $33.65M in 2005 dollars. So in 2005 dollars, per pupil revenue increased from $5,968 in 1999 to $6,476 in 2005. That is an 8.5% increase after accounting for inflation.

A similar trend was noticed in Madison County Schools (MCoS). Their 2006 revenue was $137.6M with an enrollment of 18,310. In 2000 their revenue was $92.2M with an estimated enrollment of 15,910 (see note below). Using 1999-2005 inflation data (a reasonably proxy for 2000-2006 inflation data) the 2000 revenue of $92.2M would be $105.16M in 2006. So, after accounting for inflation, per pupil revenue rose from $6,610 in 2000 to $7,515 in 2006. That is a 14% increase after accounting for inflation.

Note on Madison County data. My source, the MCoS Computer Services Department (256-859-1151), was not able to provide accurate enrollment data back to 2000 because of a “software change.” The person I spoke with estimated enrollment has increased at an average of 400 pupils per year, which equates to an increase of 2,400 over the past six years.

I haven’t been able to get detailed financial information from Huntsville City Schools (HCS) yet. But, based on Dr. Ann Roy Moore’s answers to Mo Brooks yesterday I have no reason to believe the trend in Huntsville is any different.

How much is enough? I wish the schools would just say, “Here is the exact dollar amount per pupil that we need to educate the children and operate the schools.” Then we could index it for inflation every year and hire/fire based on the administration’s ability to follow through. The current system where no amount is enough is unacceptable.

The tax itself would be used solely for education, but is not earmarked specifically for capital improvements although it is being sold to the public as an urgently needed infusion of revenue for capital improvements. Gradually this money will be diverted from capital projects to other “urgent” needs, such as teacher’s salaries. That is what has happened in the past. Then we can expect to repeat this cycle in another decade or so.

One of the biggest flags is how this tax is being called a “temporary” tax. There is no way that this tax will be rescinded at a later date because the schools will cry foul. The county will have to convince the public to authorize a property tax increase and I am quite positive that the citizens of Madison County will not trust the politicians enough to allow a property tax increase on the assumption that the “temporary” sales tax would be rolled back. This is a permanent tax folks.

The best way for the school board to sell me, and the public at large, on a tax increase is to show that they are doing everything they can to educate children and certain luxuries, such as sports complexes, are not being funded. HCS claims that it has numerous old buildings and buildings in disrepair, but they plan on spending $20.8M on a football stadium and other “physical education buildings” (probably training facilities for football and other sports).

If approved by the commission, more than $70 million would go toward additions and renovations at several city schools, such as Blossomwood and Hampton Cove elementary schools, also $18 million for physical education buildings, $4.8 million for Milton Frank and Goldsmith Schiffman stadiums and $1 million for the Davis Hills Middle School cafeteria.

I love football just as much as anyone, but if you don’t have the good sense to fix the buildings that are essential to educating the children first then you are being fiscally irresponsible.

I’ve heard anecdotal evidence from area educators who oppose the tax increase because they already see ample waste in the school systems and they know that additional revenue would translate into additional waste. One spoke of how administrators took trips to distant conferences (euphemism for working vacation) and built/renovated sports facilities while classrooms went without paper.

Sales taxes are the most regressive form of taxation, which means that they are disproportionately hard on the poor. There are 11,218 children, or 15.8%, in Madison County who live in poverty. How will their parents be able to put enough food on the table or pay the electric bill when the government takes more money from them?

One of the stats that tax advocates have been using is the estimated additional amount that a family earning $48,000 per year would pay if the sales tax was raised: $120 per year. It doesn’t sound like much to me or many in the county, but it could push Pattie Bousson over the edge of the financial cliff she is on. She is illustrative of the “working poor” in Madison County and they can ill afford this type of tax increase. As an aside, a lady spoke up at the commission meeting and said that she earned about $48,000 and by her calculations she would spend an additional $120 per year. Maybe she really does earn $48,000, but it is an interesting coincidence that the same number was used by tax increase advocates here and here. Citing statistics is fine, but falsely personalizing them (if that is what happened) is unethical.

Another important point to take into account is that Madison County has a large number of home schooled and privately schooled children. I called five of the twenty five Madison County primary and secondary private schools listed in the phone book and they represent almost 2,500 students. Only one of the three school systems were able to provide statistics on home school children to me this past week. In Madison County there are 750 children being homeschooled. If the home school to public school ratio is similar in the other systems then that population would be over 2,000. Shouldn’t these people, who receive no direct benefit from increased public school funding, have a say in how much of their money is taken from them?

Contrary to popular belief not all privately schooled children come from wealthy families. Madison County is a county with deep religious beliefs and many parents feel a conviction to have their children educated in a religious school. These people often have to make tough sacrifices to pay the tuition. It seems morally objectionable to me for the government to push some of them into a position where they can no longer afford to educate their children in accord with their religious convictions.

This tax is bad for Madison County. The tactics used by the tax proponents, such as employing a national marketing firm to influence voter opinion and sending kids home from school with tax increase flyers, are unconscionable. The Madison County Commission is not even going to give the voters the chance to voice our opinion in a FREE, NON-BINDING referendum. It is up to the citizens of Madison County to contact our elected representatives and tell them to vote no. If they choose to ignore us, then we must hold them accountable when election season comes around.

A map of the Madison County Districts is shown below.