vision2020
Re: (Fwd) School Taxes
The problem of property tax in Moscow is simply that there
is a preponderance of non tax paying entities. Gritman, Latah
Health Services, The University, State, County, Federal, non-profit
entities. Because of this, the local property owner picks up a
disproportionate share. Businesses are especially hit hard and
Moscow has not been the most business friendly city. The dilemma is:
without the tax payer support the district suffers.
The latest report "Profiles Idaho School Districts" shows that
M&O average revenue from local taxes is 23.50% and state
M&O average support is 73.25% MSD most likely will approach
51-54% local and 44-46% state with the levy passage. Year 2000-2001
shows Rockland as #1 (student population 176), and Mullan as #2 (student
population 165). I believe Troy will displace MSD as #3 this
year.
For the most part, small rural districts will have more M&O
cost per student than larger districts. One must be cautious in
drawing conclusions about funding. Since there has been a 372 five
year loss in student numbers and no change in staffing, the district will
by definition have to go to the public more often for supplemental
increases. My best estimate is that there are 614 plus going to
privates and charters, and there is a difference in opinion about the
home schoolers.. I have 108 home schoolers (within the MSD
boundaries) in my dental practice, the ice rink has skating
periods for the home schooled and about 75-100+ show up. A few years ago
the University estimated 450 (ask John Danahy about the particulars), the
church groups estimate 300-500 on the Palouse. Since Idaho does not
require registration, no one really knows. The 2000 census
estimates 11% of all students ( there have been some questions about
those figures as to accuracy) are unaccounted for attending any school
private or public, and we know that Idaho has the highest percentage of
GED's in the nation. I would place the home school numbers at about
300. Many come here to avail themselves of dual enrollment
opportunity. Hence there is a potential of over 900+ students to
help in the enrollment numbers.
I have always felt that when the district gets its act together and I
believe it will, enrollment will increase. This district has the
potential of being the best district in the nation. There are many areas
where the district is doing a great job and then there are those areas
where the district has fallen desperately behind.
Pullman is considered one of the 100 best in the nation. In
Idaho, we have the advantage of having more local control and having
smaller classes. However, without local taxpayer support, I doubt
this can just magically happen. I voted against the levy because I
disagreed with the constant internal conflicts, lack of
creativity-implementation and the lack of definable goals.
However, the dilemma is do not to cause undo harm to the
district but to give it a reality check and a reason to improve.
Recall that over $500,000 was given by outside grants and local
business to change the district since 1996. Further, we had the
commanding four star general from the National Guard and a single star
general ( to be the point person) come to the district with a proposal
for building a skills center with co-utilization opportunities. Tom
Trail, Tom Boyd, The Governor, The Palouse Partnership Council, and Larry
Craig were the outside players. The district did every thing possible not
to make it happen. The arrangement was to be patterned after the
"Minnesota Model"
73% voted against not because of money but because of a district
that is not performing to its potential and a district that has refused
to change its educational approach for all students whether college bound
or not. When one compares to this district to Pullman, we have lost
our way. I think it is time to insist on changes and insist on 1)
long term and fair labor contracts, 2) using the university for dual
enrollment and Votech, 3) increasing instructional days to 180 not
167. These are very boiler plate and simple items. We are not
building the international space station. I have not heard of one
meaningful reform from the district that will actually cause the above to
transpire. Thankyou for reading this, nothing in
education as I have learned can be stated in a few words.
Jerry
Also, I will place the MSD-PSD comparison in an attachment to help
some go to sleep.
At 06:35 PM 03/26/2002 -0800, Judi Thompson wrote:
Thanks for the information on the district's
tax levy level. You raise
interesting questions about the Moscow District being the fourth
highest
in the state at $10.72. I was not able to connect with the state
web
site, however. I will keep trying to find more information.
Do you
which districts are taxes more than Moscow?
Mike Curley wrote:
>
> Judi:
> Superintendent Ed Fisk sent back the following information:
> There is a state web site:
> sde.state.id.us/finance/docs/TaxLeviesBooklet01-02.pdf
> Our current rate (01-02) is $10.52, which is the fourth
> highest in Idaho.
>
> Unfortunately that little bit of comparative data only makes me want
more. How much per student do the others spend and what on? Should we
just look at the M&O dollars and exclude the plant/facilities bonds
from consideration of how we are taking care of our kids? How does the
total property value (on which the tax is computed) compare with the
number of students (this would get, in part, to the issue of the U of I
and any other untaxed entities in a district). How do standardized test
scores correlate across the state--and is it an accurate measure--for
example, our population may be one of the better educated in the state on
average--so we could (if that's true) expect our test scores to be higher
in the first place. On the other hand, we have a fairly mobile elementary
school population, and if it is in fact more mobile than other districts
(again on average), then our teachers/the district has less time with a
student, so the teast scores may be skewed in either direct!
ion. I
> guess that's why social scientists insist on replicatable studies
based on defined criteria, carefully collected data, and rigorous
scrutiny before drawing a conclusion. Looking at data presents
interesting questions, but as soon as we get to asserting a correlation
between two pieces of data, we may have stepped into the deep end of the
pool. It reminds me of the story of the guy who played his flute on the
street corner in New York City. When someone asked him why he did it he
said "to keep the elephants away." "Silly you," said
the other, "there are no elephants in NYC." "Yes, see how
well my playing works!" said the flutist.
>
> Mike
> ps. I think this question may be of interest to the v2020 crowd. I
can just give the information and say a(n anonymous) writer asked me, so
here it is, or I can say you asked me, or you can ask the question on v
2020 and I will respond. what do you prefer/think about that?
>
> ------- Forwarded message follows -------
> Date sent: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 09:02:26 -0800
> From: Fairco Mini-Mart
> <faircominimart@turbonet.com> To: Mike Curley
> <curley@turbonet.com> Subject: School Taxes
>
> I know that Moscow School District has a high tax rate,
> something like $10.75 per thousand. How does that compare
> with other school districts in the state? We don't have
> much of a tax base with the university property except.
> Didn't want to post this on Vision 20/20 and get some great
> debate started.
>
> Take care and enjoy the sunshine!
>
> ------- End of forwarded message -------
MSDPSDcomparison2.doc
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