School Budget Tax Impact
by Nancy Wood
April 22, 2010, page 5.....

Is it the budget, or the tax increase? At the April 19 meeting, School Board Chair Lynne Jaunich asked the public this question. In an effort to clarify the tax impact, The Charlotte News has calculated the amount of reductions at various levels, including what would be necessary to have no increase in the residential tax for CCS. This analysis is based on the state method of calculating school taxes available in the Town Report and online on the CSSU website.

Please note: the residential tax applies to residents’ homesteads. It does not apply to non-residential property, which includes open land, commercial property, second homes and vacation property. The tax rate for non-residential property is set by the state, and does not vary town-by-town based on local budgets. It is adjusted only by the local common level of assessment (CLA). No matter what budget is finally approved in Charlotte, it will not change the non-residential rate, which is expected to increase 2.2% in Charlotte for all educational expenses - high school and elementary (or just .73% if the Legislature and Governor reduce the anticipated tax rate).

Also of note: the 41% of Charlotte residents who are eligible for income sensitivity adjustments will pay a reduced residential property tax based on income.

Assuming a base state residential tax rate of $.882, here are the tax affects of various reductions in the school budget from the current 2009 level. The School Board was asked by several people on April 19 to identify what the impacts on students, programs and the quality of education would be with such cuts.

A reduction of:

• 13% ($941,093) would mean a 6.73%
decrease in the CCS residential tax rate.

• 10% ($723,918) would mean a 3.04%
decrease in the CCS residential tax rate.

• 7.53% ($545,110) would mean a 0% increase
in the CCS residential tax rate.

• 5% ($361,959) would mean a 3.11% increase
in the CCS residential tax rate.

• 2.44% ($176,909) would mean a 6.25%
increase in the CCS residential tax rate.

The budget voted down on April 6 had this 2.44% decrease from the current year CCS budget, with an anticipated 6.75% increase in the CCS tax rate. (When blended with the CVU rate, the total residential education tax rate increase would have been 5.7%.) The $176,909 reduction represented cuts of close to $400,000 from operating and transportation expenses, and the addition of $167,000 for the first payment on the $2.8 million school construction bond.