No matter what you may hear from the “All taxes are theft” crowd, taxes are necessary to properly maintain government and societal functions.
So when a tax issue arises, especially a school bond, it’s incumbent upon good citizens to look at its merits. Among the most irresponsible citizen responses in those situations are, “I won’t ever vote for a tax increase, no matter what” or “Why should I have to pay school taxes at all? I don’t even have a child in the district.”
Over the next 48 days, Columbus voters will hear a lot about their responsibilities. They will hear sob stories about the heretofore unaddressed squalor in which municipal school district students are learning. They’ll see fliers with vague language about “life safety measures” and how their taxes “won’t increase.”
They won’t see or hear as much about the school district’s responsibilities to the taxpayers, and straight answers from district leaders are sure to remain in short supply.
Columbus Municipal School District finally passed a resolution Tuesday asking voters to approve a $36 million bond issue for various facility improvements. The issue now moves to a May 14 referendum that requires at least 60-percent voter approval.
It likely won’t pass, and it shouldn’t.
Given the nature of the ask, you’d think district leaders would have adopted a clear vision months ago, established a solid plan and quickly started a robust public discussion strategy that would be well underway by now. Instead, the board and Superintendent Stanley Ellis have rushed the process and continually moved the goalpost on specifics in a way that skirts transparency and frankly insults the voters’ intelligence.
This bond seeks to keep almost 12 debt service mills from rolling off the books when the 15-year bond that built the middle school retires in April. With no new bond, city school taxes will drop significantly, saving individual real property owners hundreds of dollars a year.
Despite knowing this was coming, knowing many facilities were in rough shape and understanding the district would need a new bond to fund any meaningful upgrades, the board didn’t commission a facilities study until December. It was February before the board had those results, which identified $96 million in needed facility improvements.
From there, instead of making the case for the most effective and reasonable facilities plan regardless of cost, the board picked a number it thought it could get voters to stomach and crammed a plan into it.
This plan has something for nearly every campus. Some of these things are quite important, like roof repairs, fire alarms and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility. But the money is spread so thin, it won’t buy more than basic help for the ailing buildings.
Also, the bond does nothing to address the five elementary school campuses at about 50% student capacity. Seems like a well-reasoned bond plan would. Should some of these campuses be consolidated?
When public bodies ask for taxes, they should be clear in their intentions, transparent about the details and allow ample opportunity for public input.
But in CMSD’s rushed, ham-handed effort, the board didn’t finalize the plan, or even the dollar amount, until Tuesday. And it’s totally based on hitting the maximum amount it can while keeping the tax rate the same, rather than advocating for what’s best for students.
Instead of being good stewards, the district’s motive smacks of, “This money is ours. We need to find a way to keep it.”
It’s disingenuous, almost like it is designed to trick voters into approving it, or at least catching would-be no voters off guard so they’ll stay home.
This is where CMSD’s “hit ‘em fast” strategy likely faces its greatest challenge.
In the best of circumstances, citizens are naturally skeptical of tax increases. At worst, they’re outright hostile to them. The work of a public body wanting a tax increase is to turn Nos and Maybes into Yeses. That takes time and productive engagement.
To assume citizens’ default is yes and that time to think about it is the enemy, or to figure a lack of clear communication will keep detractors from voting at all, is dead wrong.
The district is hosting a handful of public meetings between now and election day to explain the plan. It’s a good idea but too little, too late. CMSD owed its patrons better.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
