Rising tax rates for the Leflore County School District have the Board of Supervisors concerned about taxpayers’ wallets and their own budget.
The school district is proposing a second substantial tax hike in as many years, something several supervisors said Monday would ultimately hit other county services.
With taxpayers facing steeper bills from the school district, the county has worked hard to hold other taxes steady for the last several years, said Anjuan Brown, the board’s president.
That’s left county finances strained, with not enough funds in the budget to cover needed road repairs, Brown said.
“People cannot continue to pay these taxes in the economy we’re in,” Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham said.
The Leflore County School District is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed tax increase, which could amount to as much as 7 percent, at 6 p.m. today at district’s office, located at 1901 U.S. 82 West.
Abraham pointed to the state’s school funding formula, which allocates funds based on average daily attendance, as largely responsible for increasing the burden on local residents. The school district has said a 6.6 percent student absentee rate is largely responsible for the proposed tax increase.
“I think it’s time that somebody requires the state to fully fund the education system that they’re requiring,” Abraham said. “The only place (the schools) have to turn is the local governments.”
District 1 Supervisor Phil Wolfe and District 5 Supervisor Robert Collins likened the proposed tax increase for the Leflore County School District to state and federal budget cuts that have pushed costs for services onto local government budgets.
Collins said the Legislature’s budget surplus — which has led to a swelling “rainy day fund” in state government — doesn’t match the stressed and stretched budgets at the local level.
“Somebody needs to tell the Legislature that it’s raining down here,” Collins said.
Also from Monday’s meeting:
nVolunteer firefighters will get paid $10 per hour when an outside agency or company reimburses the county for disaster response and cleanup. Having the rate on the books will let the county invoice federal officials or private industry, said Fred Randle, the county’s emergency management director.
In making the proposal, Randle pointed to the March derailment of a Canadian National freight train — including a tanker car carrying toxic chemicals — near Minter City. Randle said that volunteer firemen worked overnight shifts, some as long as 18 hours, to respond to the spill. With the new $10 rate on the books, the county could charge railroads for the volunteers’ time after a future accident.
nThe county will put up signs in Morgan City prohibiting big rigs from parking in town as soon as the town officially advertises its municipal parking ordinance. Board Attorney Joyce Chiles said the town would need to run the local law prohibiting trucks in a newspaper before it went into effect.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
