There has been an elephant in the room at Lowndes County School District. Over the past several years, the district has lived beyond its means, sometimes because of forces beyond its control, but more often out of negligence. In the span of the past six years, the district went from having a robust $17 million in reserves to borrowing money just to meet payroll. By last year, the district had run up a $2.5 million deficit, which led to the elimination of nearly 60 jobs for the 2020 school year. Classes for the 2021 school year begin on Sept. 1 and already superintendent Sam Allison has said the district likely needs a tax anticipation loan — essentially a payday loan — to meet its September payroll. Similar loans were used the past two years to meet payroll.
Ultimately, that failure to recognize and deal with that “elephant in the room” cost LCSD superintendent Lynn Wright his job.
Allison, who assumed the role of superintendent in January, deserves credit for recognizing what was plain for most to see and for his efforts to address the problem.
Yet there is an old saying that applies to that effort: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
According to tax assessor Greg Andrews’ conservative estimate, new developments, reassessment and the expiration of fee-in-lieu agreements will boost the value of the school district’s mill from $469,000 to $536,000, bringing in an additional $3 million without raising new taxes.
In an effort to completely shore up finances and rebuild the district’s fund balance, LCSD has requested roughly $2.5 million on top of that $3 million, bringing the total increase in local taxes requested to $5.5 million for the 2021 school year. While we commend Allison for his efforts to “eat the elephant,” we do question the wisdom of trying to eat the elephant in one bite.
To raise taxes at a time when property tax revenues will have organically increased 14.2 percent is an awfully large bite to swallow, one that taxpayers are likely to choke on.
We urge the school district to exercise a more measured, stepped approach in its request. This problem wasn’t created overnight and could likely be corrected over time with very little additional impact on taxpayers.
Any increase in taxes should be modest, geared to arresting the problem, getting the district’s finances in a more realistic position and allowing more time to bring an end to the problem altogether.
As it is right now, we strongly believe the elephant before the district is simply too large to eat in one bite.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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