LAWMAKERS TO DEBATE ON TAXING POWER FOR SCHOOLS
Should elected school boards in Virginia have the power to levy taxes?
A few bills introduced in this year’s General Assembly aim to resurrect that contentious issue. It’s something that has been discussed since 1992, when state law cleared the way for school board members to be elected rather than appointed.
“It’ll be controversial. There’s no question about that,” said Del. Tom Rust, R–Herndon, who is sponsoring a bill at the request of the Loudoun County School Board that proposes a study on the ramifications.
Democratic Del. Lionell Spruill and Republican Sen. Harry Blevins, both of Chesapeake, have introduced similar bills.
Virginia is one of nine states in the country with fiscally dependent school boards, according to the National School Boards Association. Thirty-four states have autonomous boards, and 26 states allow districts to have taxing ability if they choose.
Currently, school boards in Virginia request local funding from boards of supervisors or city councils. But only the supervisors or council members can raise taxes to fund schools.
That process often leads to conflict. The school board is usually pushing to improve education, while the board of supervisors or council is under pressure to keep a lid on taxes. Proponents of giving school boards such authority say it would let school board members directly communicate with voters. Critics argue that allowing school boards to solely handle funds would take away the checks and balances now in place.
Rust wouldn’t give his opinion on the issue.
“I don’t think it’s inappropriate to study it,” he said. “It would be a different thing if I put in a bill that flat out gave it to them.”
The Charlottesville-based Virginia School Boards Association is one of the most vocal supporters of the study. Dick Pulley, the group’s chief lobbyist, said the association wants the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to determine whether fiscally independent school boards would benefit or harm the process, whether taxes would increase if they were autonomous and what kinds of taxing methods would be used.
He has seen about eight similar bills fail in the same number of years. Last year, the Stafford County School Board supported the VSBA’s request for a study.
“It’s hard for me to understand why the General Assembly will not at least allow a study of this issue,” Pulley said. “It’s been before them for many years.”
SUPPORTING A CHANGE
Spotsylvania County School Board Chairman Don Holmes said he supports giving school boards the power to tax.
“We’re responsible for oversight,” Holmes said. “That should not be given to politicians whose priority is other than education.”
Gary Skinner, recently elected to the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors after serving four years on the School Board, said giving school boards taxing authority would make life easier for members of both boards.
School board members are more knowledgeable on school matters, which leads to better informed decisions, he said.
“I think they’re the experts in what they need to teach the children. It’s not always easy for supervisors to understand everything,” Skinner said. “We’re not all experts at everything.”
If school boards were given fiscal autonomy, the tension that naturally occurs between the two boards over budgets would then be placed where it should be, said Spotsylvania Supervisor Gary Jackson.
“I think the friction needs to be between the school board and the voters,” Jackson said. “Having the board of supervisors serve as some sort of intermediary between the school board and voters, I think, is not getting the job done.”
FEARS AND RESERVATIONS
Stafford School Board member Robert Belman said it would probably encourage the public to be more involved in school board elections.
But Belman, who said he works for taxpayers and not the school system, has reservations.
“I shudder at the thought of some elected school board members across the state that don’t share that same belief,” Belman said. “To give them taxing authority scares the devil out of me.”
Taxpayers will actually suffer under the change, said Stafford Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer.
“I think there has to be one body that can balance the revenue requirements for the entire county,” he said. The school board “only sees a small piece, and there needs to be one group that sees all the pieces.”
Spotsylvania and Stafford schools Superintendents Jerry Hill and David Sawyer have worked in states with fiscally independent school boards.
Sawyer said the current system makes the process more cumbersome, but he’s unsure about any other advantages of a change.
Fiscal autonomy won’t necessary lead to higher taxes for residents, he said. “In terms of burden to the taxpayer, I think it’s pretty much of a wash.”
The current system works best when the two boards work well together, said Hill, who admitted relations between the Spotsylvania boards have been rocky.
“It’s more complex when you’re trying to work with two boards than when you’re trying to work with one,” Hill said.
Staff Writer Jeff Branscome contributed to this report.