Property tax funds

[jonny d]

It appears that OK is finally going to join the rest of the country in being able to use property tax funds towards education.

http://m.news9.com/Story.aspx?story=...0&catId=112032

[Rover]

I fear that now our property taxes will start rising as the districts will still need to make capital improvements and the state just shifted the burden. It will be good for wealthy districts though.

[jonny d]

I fear that now our property taxes will start rising as the districts will still need to make capital improvements and the state just shifted the burden. It will be good for wealthy districts though.

Agreed. OK does have a low property tax rate, though. I wish that, instead of property tax, they would raise income taxes 1%...would solve so many problems.

[Pete]

I wonder if this will allow bond measures (approved by voters of a school district) to be used for operational expenses?

[okatty]

Oklahoma is a mid level property tax state. Actually higher than a number of nearby states (Arkansas, NM, CO, LA). Texas is more than double OK which is the trade off on the income tax side. Kansas also quite a bit higher.

[Rover]

I wonder if this will allow bond measures (approved by voters of a school district) to be used for operational expenses?

I would think that the district just shifts the prop tax income to operations expenses and uses the bond route to fund the capital projects. So, they will use debt and allow our republican friends to claim they didn't have to raise taxes to fund schools. It's just sleight of hand.

[jerrywall]

I hope this doesn't pass. It will benefit certain school districts at the expense of others. There's a reason this restriction exists.

If they were talking about a state level property tax that would then go into the general education fund, that would be something different.

[mugofbeer]

I hope this doesn't pass. It will benefit certain school districts at the expense of others. There's a reason this restriction exists.

If they were talking about a state level property tax that would then go into the general education fund, that would be something different.

How would this be the case? I may be wrong but aren't OKs educational dollars pooled by the state then doled out equally on a per-student basis?

[jerrywall]

Not local property taxes, as far as I know.

[Midtowner]

This will be like reshuffling the chairs on the deck of the Titanic for education in Oklahoma. A few school districts will really see a benefit though. If you're concerned about increasing property taxes, don't be. Most counties already tax at the maximum level allowable for education purposes. There's a cap. This legislation doesn't move that cap. So you'll have the same number of dollars available and districts will have flexibility to move some dollars away from capital improvements over to payroll.

Districts like Edmond which have huge numbers of property tax dollars coming in may be able to substantially increase their teacher pay. Other school districts are going to be left in a lurch because of increased competition now, not just from other states, but from other districts. They'll be forced to move money to payroll from capital improvements meaning 10-20 years down the line, it's going to be a shti show when capital improvements become critical and there's no money for them.

[stick47]

This is how they'll get around the Senior Valuation freeze rule to get more money for the schools. Can't freeze bond issues so this looks like a back door tax hike.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Districts like Edmond which have huge numbers of property tax dollars coming in may be able to substantially increase their teacher pay. Other school districts are going to be left in a lurch because of increased competition now, not just from other states, but from other districts.

Bingo.

[emtefury]

We need to be careful what we are wishing for. In Pennsylvania, property taxes go toward operating expenses. My Dad's house in PA is valued at about $180,000 and pays $5,000 a years in property taxes. That is not a typo $5,000 a year on a $180,000 house. Every year the school board raises taxes. There is a movement in Pennsylvania to have school expenses go to sales tax because of the high property taxes. In Pennsylvania, property taxes keep creeping up and fixed income retirees cannot afford it. When they don't pay (or don't pay all of it), the county forecloses on their house.

It is interesting in Pennsylvania the movement is toward school expenses going to sales tax to get away from the property tax. Here in Oklahoma we are looking to go the other direction.

[ABryant]

I am mainly afraid that this will be a tool for the state to blame local communities for poor school funding. As a concept i like the idea of schools being able to manage their property tax income. The only idea i can think of, to make something like this to work, is to have established percentages of capitol improvements to non capitol improvement funds. I still have a sinking feeling that this is a tool for the state to be able to blame communities for poor education funding.

[jonny d]

My only concern (should have voiced this in my OP) is about the state removing funding from these districts in rural OK? Is this going to be a way to supplement revenue for schools, or replace revenue from State sales taxes?