After two days of closed-door discussions with city officials and the county tax assessor, the Columbus Municipal School District appears poised to ask for a significant increase in taxes.
In its initial tax request worksheet provided to tax assessor Greg Andrews on Monday, CMSD asked for a funding increase of roughly $1.4 million, which equates to a millage increase of 7.35 mills. Millage for CMSD is currently set at 61.59 mills.
By the end of the two days of discussions, that request has been reduced to about $1 million more than last year, or an estimated 6.1 mill increase.
That increase would mean an increase in residential taxes of about $60 per $100,000 in assessed value for residences and $100 per $100,000 for business or rental properties.
The CMSD will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. on June 30 at Brandon Central Services to discuss its funding request and the board will send its official request after the board meets on July 8.
Mayor’s concerns
“I’m serious about this,” Mayor Robert Smith told The Dispatch Tuesday afternoon. “When we met (Monday) they were asking for a 7.35 mill increase. I told Superintendent (Philip) Hickman if they asked for that, they would run everybody out of the city. If that were to happen, I’m really afraid we would see a lot of businesses leaving town. So I asked him how he could justify that. I’m not here to bash anybody, but the district has had a ‘D’ rating for four or five years in a row and they are asking for 7.35?
“They met with the tax assessor again today (Tuesday) and I think they’ve got it down to 6.1, but that’s still a big problem to me.”
Smith’s frustration with the school district’s budget spilled over into Tuesday evening’s council meeting. Although not on the agenda, Smith informed the council of the situation during his opening remarks, asking city chief operating officer David Armstrong to brief the council members on the discussions with the district officials.
“I wish I had good news but I really don’t,” Armstrong said. “We did some strong talking yesterday when went in there and, based on the number we were given by Greg Andrews, they were asking for a 7.35 millage increase. We told them, you’ve got to do something. This ain’t gonna happen, guys.”
Breakdown of the request
After Tuesday’s discussion, the district’s revised worksheet showed an increase of 2.63 mills for operations and a 3.57 increase in debt service, which amounts to an overall millage increase of 6.1 mill to cover the $1 million increase in its request over last year.
By state law, the city is required to set millage to produce the revenue requested by the district up to a 4 percent increase. That applies only to requests for operations, however.
A squeeze on the city
Councilman Bill Gavin said the district’s request puts the city in the unenviable position of passing along a significant tax increase to residents or business owners or reducing city services to make up the difference.
“What the school board members need to understand is that this could really affect our ability to hire police officers, fire-fighters, and provide basic services,” councilman Bill Gavin said. “I think we’re really going to have to get the citizens involved in this and contact these board members to let them know what they think.”
Even as the council was discussing the issue, CMSD Board President Angela Verdell said the talk was premature.
“It’s unfortunate if (the council) is talking about this right now,” Verdell said, when contacted by phone as the council meeting continued. “I don’t really have anything to say about it right now, because the budget decisions won’t be made until after our June 30 meeting. Nothing is final. This is a work in progress and will be until after that June 30 meeting.”
Last year, the CMSD’s funding was set by a millage rate of 61.39 to provide the $12,707,443 requested by the district. The latest CMSD worksheet asked for a $1,058,792 increase.
“Even at 6.1 mills, it’s still the largest increase I’ve seen in my years here,” Armstrong said.
Hickman did not respond to a request for an interview Tuesday.
HOW TO GO
■ WHAT: CMSD budget hearing
■ WHERE: Brandon Central Services
■ WHEN: June 30 at 5 p.m.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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