The more I contemplate the proposed Madison County sales tax increase the more frustrated I become.

The fact that a national marketing agency has been calling area residents in order to build support for the tax increase is troubling. I assure you that those agencies don’t perform such services pro bono, so who is paying for it? It seems quite disingenuous that any group purporting to be so strapped for funds that a tax increase is necessary would be able and willing to finance a marketing campaign. My guess - based solely on which groups have both the resources and motive to mount such campaign - is that the AEA is footing the bill.

The AEA stands to benefit from the tax increase by using it to lobby for salary increases in the coming years.  I fully expect that initially all the new revenue will be spent on capital projects. But, since it is not earmarked for capital and maintenance expenses, once the immediate needs have been met and the influx of BRAC transferees dramatically boosts sales tax receipts the AEA will be in a strong position to push for higher than necessary salary increases. Capital and maintenance projects will again be under funded. Teachers win. Taxpayers and students lose. It is a shame that taxpayers don’t have deep pocketed, politically connected groups to lobby against tax increases on the local level.

I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve heard from a teacher who had to ask people to donate paper because her school wasn’t providing enough to her classroom. But, according to Commissioner Harrison, some schools are sending children home with flyers asking parents to support the tax increase. That is illustrative of misplaced priorities and poor resource usage.

Why aren’t the County Commissioners, with the exception of Bob Harrison, holding town hall meetings? I contacted Jerry Craig’s office Tuesday morning such a request and I’ve gotten no response. I know he’s received the request because I have talked with his assistant twice. 

The timing of this tax increase is curious. BRAC issued their final report to the President on September 8, 2005 - over one year ago. Why have the schools waited so long to realize and attempt to address the issue of all the jobs coming to Redstone Arsenal? They claim that, despite waiting a year to act, the tax increase is needed so urgently that the County Commission cannot wait to see the results of a free, non-binding referendum during the November 7 general election. But the commission will not be voting on the tax increase until October 27, just eleven days before the general election. Why couldn’t we wait eleven more days to get the public’s input? We’ve already waited a year.

Revenue per student has increased faster than the pace of inflation in Madison City and Madison County School Districts in the last few years. Huntsville hasn’t provided me with revenue and enrollment data yet, but based on Ann Roy Moore’s comments at a recent County Commission meeting it appears the trend is similar there. There is some justification for such increases. The last few years have brought about the under funded No Child Gets Ahead federal mandates. But when will our financial contributions to the public education establishment be enough?

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This entry was posted by Brian on Friday, October 6th, 2006 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Education, Madison County, News & Opinion, Taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.