Q If the Emporia school district is getting so much new money, why aren’t my taxes going down dramatically?
A To start with, school-based property taxes are going down a little bit in Emporia — though not as much as $2 million in new money from the state might suggest. For the 2007-08 budget year, the Emporia school board approved a mill rate of 49.3 mills on Wednesday night, down by 0.487 mills.
Over the last seven years, Superintendent John Heim said, the district’s mill rate has gone down by about 7.5 mills, enough to take about $86.25 off the tax bill for a $100,000 home, leaving aside any changes in valuation.
Still, half a mill seems small when so much new money is available — 0.487 mills is worth about $82,790 based on the school district’s valuation. Why isn’t there more of a drop?
To understand that, Heim said, you have to look at why the district got the new money and how much it gets from the state and from district taxpayers.
Emporia’s additional funding largely came about because of the Schools for Fair Funding lawsuit against the state Legislature. That lawsuit argued that districts like Emporia needed more state money, not for property tax relief, but because their existing revenue sources could not fund an “adequate” education as defined by the state itself.
That means, Heim said, that it’s not just a matter of replacing $2 million in local tax dollars with $2 million in state dollars — especially since the district’s total taxes levied for next year come to about $8.1 million.
“We couldn’t do that if we tried, because 90 percent of our money comes from the state,” Heim said.
The new budget sets spending at nearly $80 million, though it actually comes to about $69 million once you leave out the money that is taken from one school district fund and put into another. And the actual spending tends to be lower than budgeted spending, Heim said, simply because the budget sets a ceiling on what the district can do.
The Emporia district has to budget money before it can spend it, but like many local governments, it doesn’t necessarily spend everything it budgets.
The truth is that the windfall hasn’t resulted in massive tax relief this year for many of the districts that led the way in the lawsuit. The Salina school district actually raised its mill levy by about half a mill. Dodge City’s stayed flat.
So what is Emporia getting for $2 million? According to the district’s own budget information, $937,760 is going for new positions, including six instructional strategists, four instructional coaches, two elementary school teachers, four and a half English language acquisition teachers, and for a payroll clerk, early childhood director and part of a “specials” teacher.
About $1 million is going to a 3.92 percent pay raise, a level that’s not unusual for the district, according to Susan Hernandez, assistant superintendent of business.
“I think it’s a little lower this year than it was last year,” she said.
The increase includes not just higher wages, but also the district’s fixed costs for each worker’s social security, workers compensation and unemployment insurance.
Another $50,000 of the state’s new money was used to cover higher utility costs while nearly $95,000 went to help with health insurance costs.
The additions actually add up to $2,165,090, but the district saved $167,500 from changes recommended by its performance-based budgeting process (PBB), bringing the actual total to just below $2 million.
One reason the school district’s mill levy has been going slowly down is that its bond and interest costs are also declining. That category caused property tax rates to take a quick jump a few years ago after district voters approved a $35 million bond issue for two new schools and several improvements to existing ones.
“Bond and interest was originally projected to be at 13 mills,” Heim said. “This year, it’s projected to be a little under 8.9 mills. So it’s four mills less than what we had projected.”
Four mills, by the way, would be worth about $46 a year on a $100,000 home.
Peer Comparison
Mill levies in communities that supported the school-finance lawsuit:
Emporia — 49.300 mills (07-08) 49.787 mills (06-07) Overall: Down 0.487 mills
Salina — 55.737 mills (07-08) 55.252 mills (06-07) Overall: Up .485 mills
Dodge City — 56.048 mills (07-08) 56.048 (06-07) Overall: No change
Hays —55.587 mills (07-08) 56.726 mills (06-07) Overall: Down 1.139 mills
Leavenworth — 50.78 mills (07-08) 50.75 mills (06-07) Overall: Up 0.03 mills.
Where New Money Goes
New positions (salaries and benefits):
4 instructional coaches, EHS/EMS: $198,000
2 elementary teachers: $100,000
0.8 specials teachers: $40,160
6 instructional strategists: $301,200
4.5 English language acquisition teachers: $225,900
Payroll clerk: $27,500
Early childhood director: $45,000
Utility cost increases: $50,000
Health insurance increase: $94,752
3.92 percent salary increase (includes fixed costs): $1,082,578
Total: $2,165,090
Savings from PBB reductions: $167,500
Total allocated funds: $1,997,590
Comments
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Posted by theNewKid (anonymous) on August 23, 2007 at 6:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What is a instructional strategist? Why is there need for 6?
Posted by emporialifer (anonymous) on August 24, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
2 elementary school teachers - $100,000????
So they are each making $50K - dang perhaps I should have gone into teaching!
Posted by disgruntledcitizen (anonymous) on August 24, 2007 at 4:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Emporialifer,
To clarify, no teachers at usd253 are not making $50K. I happen to know one and she is making in the very low $30's. Either this is a typo or they are counting things like Kpers and health insurance costs. With that said, the teachers definetely should be making $50k. With all they have to put up with (cont. ed., 4 year degree, ESL, no child left behind, long overtime hours but NO overtime pay, etc..) These people are the ones who are educating our children and the next leaders of this country, but are making less than a lot of people who work in factories or warehouses. (and I am not trying to insult warehouse workers). The point is that teachers are underpaid, underappreciated, and OVERstressed! Just my opinion.
Posted by UserName (anonymous) on August 24, 2007 at 7:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Regarding the $100,000 for the two elementary school teachers. They do not make $50,000 per year. In most jobs that offer benefits, the employer's share of the benefits typically run 20% - 40% of the salary (depending on the benefits offered and the amount of benefits the employee can afford to pay for). Benefits include health insurance, life insurance, retirement/401K, etc.
So even at the lower estimate, that means the employee's salary is actually around $40,000. Take another 10% - 20% of that for taxes, and you have an elementary school teacher who brings home around $35,000.
These are the people who are responsible for our children's education. And these children will be our future leaders.
Is $100,000 enough for two elementary school teachers? In my opinion, $100,000 isn't enough for ONE elementary school teacher. They are definitely underpaid.
Posted by create (anonymous) on August 25, 2007 at 10:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Teachers are definitely underpaid. When the end of the day comes, they don't leave job cares behind on their desks, they take them home, physically and/or mentally. If society doesn't want to pay teachers what they are worth, then we can't attract quality people to that profession. It will be time to put bars on our windows and doors because the next generation will not be earning a living the traditional way.
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