September 3, 2010 —
Rowan County property owners will pay the same school property tax rate this year as they did last year, as the result of action taken Tuesday night by the Rowan County Board of Education.
On a split vote of 3-2 following a public hearing at the Proudfoot Administration Building, board members agreed to keep the property tax rate at 50.7 cents per $100 in assessed value, the same rate as 2009.
With the anticipated growth of the county’s property tax base, keeping the old rate actually will produce an increase of approximately $30,000, according to Glen Teager, district finance officer.
Supporting the motion to keep the rate the same were Board Chairman Larry Coldiron and members Danny Mabry and Brian Wallace. Opposing the motion were Vice Chair Bill Redwine and member Brian Riddle.
Moments earlier, a motion to increase the tax rate to 52.4 cents failed on a vote of 2-3 with the same alignment. That rate would have produced about $220,000 in new tax revenue for the district, dedicated primarily to instructional costs. That amount would be the equivalent of a four percent increase, the maximum allowed by state law each year that cannot be recalled by voters.
Supt. Marvin Moore and Riddle spoke in favor of the higher rate because of cuts in state support and the elimination of seven positions and other budget cuts totaling more than $400.000 needed to balance this year’s operating budget.
Moore warned that next year’s budget would be even harder to balance with the expected loss of about $1 million in federal stimulus funding.
About 20 persons attended the hearing with five of them speaking in opposition to any increase, especially the proposed move to 52.4 percent. Their basic argument against an increase was that the economy has not improved and increasing property taxes would be a burden on many taxpayers. The increase in home foreclosures was cited as one example of fiscal distress faced by families.
Moore said the school district was well aware of the financial pressures on families, noting that student admission prices for events at the high school had been lowered this school year from three dollars to one dollar.
In response to statements that the district has been steadily losing state funding and needs more local tax support, it was noted by opponents that revenue from the school board’s utility tax of three percent continues to grow each year as utility rates go higher.
Following the vote to hold the tax rate at current levels, Coldiron told the audience that he had cast the deciding vote because he wanted to wait one more year to see if the state would provide more support to local districts.
“If we don’t get help from the state, we will have no choice but to raise school taxes next year or be forced to make substantial cuts in programs which our students need,” Coldiron said.
The defeated four percent proposal would have levied an additional tax of $17 per year on property assessed at $100,000.
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