Penny by Penny

David Montané, a leader in the local Libertarian party regularly leaves comments on this blog that give me pause. I find his perspective often reminds me of early founders of American principles. In a recent post, David left this comment, "Everyone has been writing, both on this blog and all the local papers, about what will be done with the money if SPLOST is renewed. Will it be wasted, or will it benefit the children? Should we vote NO this time, then if they do what we want vote YES next time? This is the way those who have a special interest in the public schools look at the matter. This is so because the schools and buses and computers constructed with SPLOST money, in the words of Frederic Bastiat, are "seen" - they are visible to all. "This blinds all eyes" to the real effect of the tax on the public welfare. As an austro-libertarian, my interest is not in how the money will be spent, but in how it will NOT be spent - the "unseen". If we continue the SPLOST, $100 Million per year, from mid-2012 to mid-2017, will NOT be spent by individuals deciding on their own how that money should best be spent or saved or invested. Instead, that money will be forcibly removed from them at the cash register. In this sense, no matter how the money is used, it is stolen money and will obviously be misused. (Read "That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen")

He has a point. I am tired of being taxed in every nook and cranny of my life and would most likely spend my money more wisely if allowed to keep it. Although I don't mind paying taxes for basic societal needs, we are over-taxed in DeKalb and much of it is simply squandered. On top of that, the great state of Georgia has abused DeKalb for over a decade now. First, we all pay taxes to the state of Georgia and then the State, using a complicated funding formula called QBE (explained as well as possible by Joe Martin at the January, 2011 ELPC meeting) calculates what our school system is entitled to from state funds by adding up the numbers of our students, having multiplied each by a different weight proportionate to their individual needs called "FTE"*. Then, in something they call "Austerity Cuts", the state just hacks away at our entitlement total until it becomes a number the state feels comfortable sending to DeKalb. This has cost us hundreds of millions in lost funds over the last decade. It's frustrating and harmful. Have your ever noticed how hard CFO Marcus Turk has tried to alert us to this over the years? He mentions it every time he presents a budget. I've included a couple of his charts below.

FTE State Funding Summary
(click to view larger)

Worse, add to these "Austerity Cuts" the "Equalization" of school funds by the state, where they take what they call our "Local 5 mill share" and simply give it away to counties around the state that they decide are "poor" and "rural" and need our money more that we. Guess how much they take from us for "Equalization" every year? You are right! 100 Million Dollars! (Insert pinkie upside down at the corner of your mouth when you read that.) $100 Million (or more). Ironically, this is just about exactly the same amount we are now poised to tax ourselves and our guests (for the fourth time) to cover what we need to build and maintain our schools. How long until they start redistributing our SPLOST pennies? I wonder if our poor, rural neighbors appreciate that we are willing to double-tax ourselves so that they can build new schools too.

Actual funds received
vs entitlement
(click to view larger)

This is $100 million, penny by penny, taken from the good people of Dekalb - who already pay quite enough to fund a perfectly functional school system if those in charge would simply make it functional. We wouldn't need a SPLOST if those at the state would return the what they take from us year after year to give to "poor", "rural" counties who don't tax their property owners at nearly the same rate as we. We are fools to play into this game of income redistribution by the state. Vote "No" on SPLOST and instead, demand that your state legislators return our hard-earned money!

===

The Cobb County Budget available online includes this chart:

Property Taxes - Taxes levied on real and personal property, based on values assessed as of January 1 each year. FY2012 Property Tax revenue is based on a millage levy currently of 20.0 mills. The following are FY2011 Metro Atlanta comparisons of proposed millage rates, homestead exemptions and taxes on a $165,000 home:

===

*(For more in-depth but easy to understand information on FTE, click here to download a great Powerpoint called FTE for Dummies written by Paige Cooley of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.)

In Mom We Trust

I remember when I was a kid, (the last of five in our family) during dinner, I would sometimes ask my mother if I could have a little more. If the pot was empty, my mother would pick up her plate and spoon her own helping onto my plate. She never balked, she never hesitated. She didn't complain, or question, or tell me I was greedy. When I would see her lift that plate, I would be embarrassed and beg her not to give me her own food, but she would have none of that. That one selfless gesture -- so readily repeated -- did so much to build trust between my mother and me. My mother took her job as CNO (Chief Nuturing Officer) very seriously. And, I always knew I could count on my mother.

It was disheartening to see at the BOE meeting a parent reduced to asking the full Board for a simple, reliable copy machine for her children's school. But, what was even more disheartening was Ms. Tyson's response moments later when Mr. Womack publicly requested Ms. Tyson to just give the school a new copier. To paraphrase, she said she would get on it first thing the next morning, she would "get the facts."

The implication was clear. The response was so typical of the Central Office when a parent or teacher or community member brings them a concern or problem. The parent must be lying! Or over-exaggerating. Or being dramatic. Or just plain crazy. Somehow, the staff always has the "facts" and the customer is always wrong.

I believe they do this so they can set up a classic he said/she said situation. And, I was right. Facilities claimed they had been responsive to the school's needs. And then, they offered the ultimate shut-down. We don't have any money! The pot is empty.

Well, I believe a CEO's job description isn't too far off a CNO's. When there's nothing left, it's time to take the shirt off your own back. Fork the food off your own plate. Make do with less for yourself.

Oh mom, how I miss you.

Equalization or Robbery?

The topic of Georgia's "Equalization" grants has been brought up here several times - prompting me to make a post solely dedicated to the subject. One contributor wrote, "Interestingly DeKalb is one of the districts currently levying a millage rate in excess of the State's constitutional cap. This irks some since many Counties receiving benefit from the Equalization part of the funding formula have MUCH lower millage rates."

Some of our brilliant bloggers researched the topic and found the following resources:

The full text of the equalization grant statute, OCGA Sec. 20-2-165 can be found at this link. The legislation describes the funding formula in detail.

The Georgia School Council Institute has put together a nice nine page write up on school funding. Take a look at page 4 of the .pdf file found at this link. Page 3 may also be of interest to help avoid confusion of "Local 5-mills / Local Fair Share" vs. "Equalization".

Also check out:

Where the funds for equalization come from.

And where they go, as described in Senator Jack Hill's essay on the subject. The section on equalization starts about halfway down.

Click here to read Part 2 of the Senator's essay.

Also, the amounts reallocated can be found at this link at the Georgia DOE's website. (After clicking Set FY, choose QBE003, System allotment sheets)


====
Do all this reading and then post your thoughts in the comments.