Levy Lessons Learned

One way or other there will be a different outlook for Gulf County Schools when these words are read.

Either the one-mill levy referendum will have passed and the district will enjoy some breathing room for the tough economic times ahead, or the levy will have failed and the tough times figure to become considerably tougher.

Regardless of the outcome of the vote on Tuesday night, however, some education was provided that taxpayers and voters might want to mull in the months ahead as the county and municipal governments undertake crafting budgets.

Understand the Target - Led by a county commissioner, there has been a vocal segment of the population that has been against this additional tax from the outset.

Unfortunately, the aim seems a tad off the target.

The amount of current millage which the local school board actually voted to levy this year amounts to a half-mill, the amount of capital outlay millage the district levied this fiscal year.

That is a fraction of the roughly 15 mills in tangible property taxes that are levied by governing bodies in the county. The county and municipalities are responsible for nearly two-thirds that amount. Responsibility for the remainder rests entirely in Tallahassee.

Even though the governor's office considers the county one of critical economic concern, and therefore eligible for a host of grants and a fast-tracks for economic development efforts, the Florida Department of Education, and by extension the Florida Legislature, considers the county "property rich" for purposes of school funding.

This defies logic and is an example of how state lawmakers have pushed more and more of school funding onto the backs, and into the wallets, of local taxpayers.

Taxpayers who insist this is hardly the time to be increasing anybody's taxes should be targeting the county, the cities or Tallahassee long before a school district that has levied far less than it could by law.

While the school district could levy by simple majority vote two mills in capital outlay - or an additional 1.5 mills - and have the same operating issues to go with a nifty building account, the county can, with majority votes, add to the sales tax, expand and extend long-term debt, increase fees and taxes and explore all methods of luring alms that suit the kings, beyond the soaking they give taxpayers.

Where is the hue and cry over that? How much longer will such irresponsibility be rewarded with re-election?

Flexible Funding - The place to start in Tallahassee is straightforward - treat school budgets like county budgets, at least in the near future.

Not only do state lawmakers dictate the required millage for school districts, it provides little local control over how that money is spent.

School funds drop into so many categoricals - money earmarked for specific areas with audits all year to ensure the rules are followed - that school boards have little flexibility in spending. And categoricals are nothing more than political creations of state lawmakers.

The state could save time and $10,000 in election expenses for Gulf District Schools had it, during a special session early this year, provided local control over all school funding. Lawmakers still have the chance during the current regular session.

The school board could have in turn used its funding, capital outlay and other forms, as needed, instead of swinging to the dictates of state lawmakers more interested in fiddling as school districts around the state burn.

 There is Always Fat to Trim - One of the most egregious aspects of the referendum campaign has been the outspoken position of county commissioners against the referendum and their pledge not to lay off staff in 2009.

Nice rhetoric, lousy, not to mention insulting, policy.

The school district invited a citizens group to come in, pore over the budget and provide a list of recommendations for cutting expenses.

Regardless of whether the referendum passed on Tuesday, district officials have already identified some $500,000 in cuts to be made and that before a workshop to consider the work of the citizens committee.

For the county to assert it has cut to bare-bones, with no fat to slice, is naïve at best or disingenuous at worst.

This is a board that has increased spending more than 120 percent this decade, increased the workforce similarly, added to the sales and gas taxes, extended and compounded long-term debt and can somehow find the money to send not one, not two, but three commissioners to Washington, D.C. to lobby.

To assert there is no fat, no layoffs coming, when the school district has shed 43 jobs with more likely on the way and private sector businesses are forced to cut everywhere - due, in large part, to choking tax bills - is laughable and a slap in the face to those commissioners take an oath to serve.

Follow the Lead - In an effort to show the buck stops at the top, school board members and the superintendent all cut their salaries for the current fiscal year.

All county and municipal elected officials should follow that effort by slicing their own salaries. Ten percent for the rest of the fiscal year would be a start.

It is called public service, not pay me my money down.

Those signs being waved at street corners the past few weeks could have easily read "Save our Community."

Real leadership comes without a price tag. And responsible government isn't about feathering nests.