DeKalb readies for tax increase to offset revenue shortfall
A preliminary report released Monday showed property values dropped 10.5 percent in the county, more than double what was projected for the budget. That created a $25 million hole for commissioners -- who have sliced $33.6 million to create a $529 million budget.
A majority of commissioners said that meant another round of cuts, and, for the first time, consideration of a tax hike.
“It’s going to have to be a mix,” said Commissioner Lee May, who heads the budget committee. “The fact remains, we have a real revenue problem.”
And our school board is certainly considering the same thing - making for the possibility of a double tax hike. Except that homeowners will feel the school tax hike more, since school taxes account for approximately 70% of their annual property tax bills.
The school board very nearly passed a budget at their last meeting that spent all of the projected income along with a good portion of our reserves. Luckily, the budget was pulled in order to have more discussion and conduct some research. Now that we know the tax collections are far less than even the dismal projection, what will our board propose to fill the gap? Where else can spending be cut?
39 comments:
Keep your eyes on the facilities budget. The 10 year facility plan is scheduled to be released on Monday and voted on June 13 (quick vote).
And let's not forget about SPLOST. All those antiquated facilities that DCSS should manage how to upgrade using existing tax revenues. Oh, that's right, that bloated central office is spending every penny collected and then some. What great financial stewards of our taxes DCSS has been.
We also lost out on tens of millions due to Pat Pope and Crawford Lewis refusing to cooperate with the state by turning in the proper paperwork in a timely manner. The board at the time either never noticed or didn't care or believed Lewis and Pope's flim-flam stories. But those were construction dollars due to DeKalb from the state -- lost forever due to ineptitude and corruption. The only saving grace was Fran Millar who went to bat for us and was able to recover I believe around $19 million...
Which is not all that different from the county apparently - whose inept department leadership across many sectors failed to collect millions in fees and taxes from those who owed.
The "go-to" solution from leadership in both arenas seems to "be "oh well, just go grab more from the taxpayers."
Kudos to Paul Womack for making the board stop and revisit the budget.
I can think of one expenditure we could drop and help the students.... Axe the entire Office of School Improvement, also known as Audria Berry's Army. These "coaches" do not have any effect on the classroom and those dollars should be placed back in the school house. Since the "Office of Improvement" opened, more schools are failing AYP now, than when we didn't have one.
If the BOE tries to Furlough or cut teachers pay again, they should be hogtied and placed in front of the Palace for a public flogging.
One more question, how long will this current bunch of "leadership" remain in place? The inept/corrupt business by Clew and Pope was executed by the very people that remain in their jobs today. I love it how clew and Pope get all the blame for those dollars lost, but wasn't it the staff that also did not help the leaders in going after that money? Could it be the staff just looked the other way since the gravy train was riding high in those days?
Get rid of everyone at the Palace and start over. I might consider a tax hike then, but with this current bunch all it would mean is raises for their friends and family, which also means increased tithes to New Birth.
Tired of the corruption and criminal enterprise that DCSS has become.
Please be aware that furlough days for teachers are back on the table. We will continue to lose good teachers, if we don't pay them. DCSS should be able to put together a budget that saves some money while paying teachers their full salary and benefits. It is time to cut the wasteful spending.
What is sad, is that at the county and district level, we don't look at the right things to cut. Politicians make cuts that will have us crowing, so that they can keep their over paid and unnecessary friends and family members employed with fabulous paying jobs. Job salaries need to be right sized at both the county and district level. This will never happen under the current administrations of either place, but if one really cared about DeKalb, that is what would be done. Raising taxes with falling home values makes little sense. I already feel that I pay too much for what little services that I use.
Time to go back and actually make some real cuts to Central Office.
Keep in mind that teachers signed a contract with furloughs included with the promise that the money would actually be returned once the budget was passed. The fact that they held up the budget and still have all of these teacher contracts with signatures indicates that they are going to do the easiest thing and screw the teachers over. Again.
Say what you want about how bad the students are getting the shaft -- the teachers are the real folks being screwed over. No raise in five years, actual cut in pay last year, and now the prospect of another cut? I'm not sure how long the admin thinks this will be allowed without a response, but they had better not make the cuts fall on the backs of the teachers again. I believe they'll experience a flight in faculty they've never seen before. Many of the teachers are already making below the state mandated amounts for certain years of service as it is!
I wouldn't be so sure that furloughs are coming. I am not at all sure that Womack can get the votes to do this.
Womack will have the votes. He is counting on all the people who aren't paying attention to keep quiet. Sadly, he could be right.
Womack is heck bent on making sure the furlough days don't get returned to staff. The budget presented is solid if you have been paying attention to the financial reports presented each month. We have been tracking ahead (despite what is happening in the county, the school district is doing well). Womack is bullying and trying to pull the four votes with him. If the teachers don't get the money back, there is only one person to blame. Where is ODE when we need it??
According to Marcus Turk's presentation at the Open Budget Hearing, at the end of the FY2011 budget year DCSS will have $40 million MORE than budgeted in reserves.
How can any board member justify furlough days next year when this budget year will have a $40 million surplus.
Womack told the treasurer of ODE "Next year, we're going after the teachers" If he wants any teachers left in DeKalb, he's going to have to back off of this one. The world isn't going to end, and as one speaker pointed out this month during citizens comments, Paul Womack is not God. I think ODE members will be there in force if necessary.
I would say put the instructional coaches back in the classrooms to teach, but the coach at our school isn't a certified teacher.
what happened to Nancy's zero based budgeting idea from the schoolhouse up? That would absolutely require the system to look at the needs of the system rather than friends and family and protecting ones who need protecting. I know the answer: she would never get 4 to go along with her because too many others on the BOE are also protecting friends and family (maybe she could get a few votes but I don't think she could get the 5 she would need). Could she get SACS to require it? The other aspect of all of this that no one ever speaks about is that DeKalb is still (last I checked) subject to "equalization" so a somewhat large percentage of any tax increase we get hit with won't be left in DeKalb anyway. Then, anyone with the tenacity will go ahead and appeal their values on their real estate assessments. They (county and DCSS) absolutely must start right sizing the workers.
I guess this is sort of off topic, but ultimately it will matter--are they doing anything with respect to the superintendent search??
If we have a new super in place in August, that will make a huge difference in how this all comes down. Are we stil going to be in "interim" status, which means business as usual? Did I miss a news report somewhere?
You didn't miss anything. We're still in the same basic state of limbo that we've been in for a year now. The board better get their acts together - they're running out of time. Ms. Tyson is only contracted to be the superintendent until June or so...
Scare not making AYP.hool taxes Taxes need to be raised only after the Stars program is yanked and the required art, music and extra media clerks are eliminated. Give the schools their earned points and let the Principals with input from their community decide if they need another math or reading teacher or an extra art teacher when they are not even making AYP. Equity, Mr. Turk, is not "one size fit all", but using
funds appropiately to meet the needs of the school, whether it't art or gifted teachers.
Reminder: although it's ok to criticize board members and leadership for their actions, we ask you to refrain from personal attacks - and prohibit personal comments or attacks on their spouses or family members (unless it's just to point out someone who works for DeKalb's relationship to a board member or admin).
Personally, I think millions and millions could be saved in MIS. There is new technology available for FREE that can satisfy almost all of the needs in the classroom. Open Office is the FREE downloadable software that replaces the need for all Microsoft products. Open Office can create docs, spreadsheets, presentations, just about anything needed in the classroom. Combine that with Chrome, the Google internet tools, private "clouds" for data storage and you will eliminate the need for literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in IT and software costs every year.
Add to that the ability to use Kindles or iPads to download textbooks, online videos for learning, and teacher loaded websites and you no longer need to spend over $7 million a year on textbooks. Think about it - if a fully loaded iPad costs even $1000 and we give them to students from 6-12th grade (let's say that's 50,000 iPads) we would spend about $5 million a year on iPads - and that's if we bought each student a new one every year!
We need to REALLY lead the pack in technology - it's an opportunity to really shine!
This is to the brave soul who is anonymous,
I respectfully disagree. I applaud the intent of STARS to make sure that every school has art and music. There is a wealth of data that says the arts are vital in education, that they help involve students who would otherwise languish, that they improve thinking skills, discipline, motivation, and student performance. One size might not fit all but all should have a wealthof opportunities to learn and blossom into productive citizens. Some citizens have complained that not every school offered the basic opportunities that children need to learn. Ms. Tyson had the course offerings surveyed at the schools and came up with STARS. I would prefer an art or music teacher any day to a third, fourth, and fifth assistant principal.
While I am on my soap box I also agree with the concept that there will be no furlough days for teachers this year but admininstrators will have to take 4furlough days.
I'm with Sharon.
The board combined with the superintendent needs to set policy on things like art and music, not delegating such things to individual principals.
And I don't think 11:13 is off-topic. Until we get a new superintendent, a lot of these issues won't get resolved. The new super (unless they are puppets) are going to want their own philosophies used or at least discussed with the board to deal with budget, facilities, gifted/magnet programs and other issues.
@ Cerebration, 11:24 AM
I agree!
Open Office is a wonderful program and it does everything that Microsoft Office does. In some cases, it does it better. It meshes seamlessly with Microsoft Office.
When I bought my new, faster laptop last December, I decided that I could not afford to also buy Microsoft Office. I wanted to put all my money into the hardware, buying speed, space and memory.
I decided to give Open Office (www.openoffice.org) a tryout.
Quite frankly, it has exceeded all of my expectations. It downloaded easily, did not try to load in a lot of bloat-ware and did not force Internet Explorer on me (I happily use Google as my browser). It works great with Windows 7. I will stick with it!
I have often wondered why any cost-conscious and/or cash-poor organization would pay for multiple licenses for Microsoft Office when they could have Open Office for free.
I've done a little math that I don't think Mr. Womack has considered in pressing for going to 7-period day. If we do, just for my department at just my school, we will have to obtain an additional $42,000 in textbooks. So let's multiply that by all departments at all schools currently on block schedule. If he's worried about money, he's gotta drop pushing for 7-period days.
A 7 period day is more expensive, not just in textbooks. It would be very difficult to do this at most schools without more teachers. And with bloated class sizes, a 7 period day will push many teachers over the edge- imagine teaching 6 classes of English a day, and taking home almost 200 papers to grade.
Agreed on the extra cost about teachers. Fortunately the board let 7-period schools have teachers with 2 planning periods, so each teacher could teach 160 children per day (but also a total of 160 per year). At my block school, I teach up to 96 per day, but the second semester, I can have up to 96 different children for a total of 192 per year, so actually I end up teaching up to an additional full class of children each year. We have 12 teachers in my department, so that's 12 extra classes or 4 teachers less on block schedule than on 7-period day.
But aren't there more classes - therefore more teachers on a block? If each student takes 32 credits over 4 years vs 28, doesn't it cost more overall to offer a larger course selection?
I have heard that if they go to 7 periods county-wide teachers will only get one prep... there is no way the county could afford to give teachers two preps a day.
So I see, on the 7 period day, teachers may teach 5 classes of 30 students = 150 students year round. On the block, teachers teach 3 courses of 30 students (90 total) twice a year = 180 students/year. So maybe the extra cost for 4 credits just comes out in the wash.
All said, it always seems most logical to go to some kind of modified block - at all schools so that students can transfer if necessary. Also, wouldn't that mesh better with joint enrollment since colleges go by semesters?
Actually, I forgot about this old post - we've discussed this before...
But then again, the block can be an enlightened way to educate
DCSS teachers at 7 period days get two planning periods because of the block to try and make things equivalent at the schools.
Nationally, this is not the norm. Teachers at 7 period day schools generally only get one planning period.
One obvious problem with a 4 class block which noone seems to be pointing out: Discontinuity of classes. You aren't taking math or english continuously. You have a break. I think that is a serious problem with math classes.
I also think the longer classes try the patience of middle schoolers as well as many high schoolers.
Right. So, all costs being equal, it still looks like a compromise - some kind of modified system would be best. That way, classes like English and math could be taken as 50 minute sessions every day all year and other courses like art, music, and science courses with labs could be half year courses for 90 minutes every day...
Or, you could offer a hybrid like North Springs does...7 classes meet M, Th, and F...on T/W, 3 classes meet 1 day and 4 classes meet the other.
That would provide a longer class period for all of the subjects...I'd love a 90 minute period for math from time to time to give an in-depth test or start and finish an entire topic that may take longer than a traditional 50 minute period.
Good teachers can find all sorts of wonderful ways to utilize a 90 minute block once a week...I think it's tougher to really fully utilize that 90 minute period 5x a week, though.
There is a wealth of research on the block schedule in various forms. There is no clear difference in student performance in either a block or 7 period schedules. However, school discipline is always better with a block schedule (in terms of fewer incidents) School based surveys show that most parents, teachers, and students prefer the block after having experienced.
The primary advantages are that it is actually cheaper, gives a preview of college class scheduling, offers more opportunities for credit (32 credits max instead of 28) and more opportunities to retake failed courses, and is fewer courses to keep up with at any one time. 90 minute periods favor hands on science while 50 minute ones do not.
The disadvantages are chorus, band and orchestra work best with year long classes. Some parents and teachers worry about not having continuous math or foreign language courses. AP courses test second semester and that is a disadvantage that the DeKalb in some cases has overcome by paring AP with a complementary course. One other disadvantage is that with some schools on block and some not it makes transfers more difficult.
Although hybrid block schedules allow the advantages of both, repeated research shows that parents and teachers prefer a simpler schedule.
Scheduling decisions ought to approved by the school board not initiated by them. The last thing we need is social engineering by a board of amateurs. Let the people in the trenches, the teachers, administration and parents, drive the decision. Leave to the professionals, the educators who understand scheduling and the parents who are experts on their children.
At the schools that used block in Gwinnett, foreign language was scheduled for 1 full year - first course in the fall second in the spring (third in the fall/fourth in the spring for those continuing beyond the "requirement"). That took care of the continuity issues. With the support courses in place now, there is less continuity issues for math. The others don't really seem to have the issue. Problem solved.
Ways to save money..hmmmm the first thing that comes to my mind are the schoolhouse bookkeepers. I do not mean to get rid of the position but it is very realistic for one bookkeeper to share two schools. Our bookkeeper spends maybe 2 hours a week doing actual accounting type tasks. The remainder of the time she is a glorified secretary and given tasks she is not qualified to do. Just a thought.
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