Leflore County’s superintendent of education said she didn’t know state and federal cuts would be so big when she vowed not to raise taxes.
Viola Williams McCaskill responded briefly during a public hearing Thursday evening after taxpayer Giles Fuller said McCaskill had come to his house on the campaign trail last year and promised no property tax hike.
“I had no idea that we would have this much decrease from the state and from Title 1,” McCaskill said.
The district is proposing an 11 percent jump in the amount generated for it by taxes on homes, cars and businesses in areas of the county outside the Greenwood city limits. It won’t be an 11 percent increase in residents’ total tax bill, only in the portion paid to schools.
On a $100,000 home with a homestead exemption, it would equal $30 more per year in taxes, according to figures provided by Leflore County Tax Assessor Leroy Ware based on the school district’s estimate of a 3-mill tax increase.
On a $20,000 car, it would be $18 extra for a tag.
McCaskill had run an ad the day before she was elected in the Nov. 8 general election saying, “I will keep taxes the same AND raise teachers’ and support staff salaries!”
But her first budget as superintendent now includes a sizable tax increase and no raises for employees.
About seven citizens attended the public hearing Thursday, three of whom either made statements or asked questions.
James Belk asked what percent of the total budget the amount generated by the tax increase would constitute. When he was told 1.3 percent, Belk said the district should be able to cut 1 percent or 2 percent from its $25.6 million budget.
Belk, who spent 13 years as controller at Greenwood Leflore Hospital and 20 years running the Leflore County Civic Center, said he could probably do it just by turning out lights and consolidating bus routes.
He said he’s on a fixed income.
“There’s a point where you cut my lifestyle down for some things you could do without,” Belk said.
Fuller also said his retirement doesn’t go up when taxes do. He said he could understand a 4 percent increase but not 11 percent.
Sadie Daniels, a retired educator, asked what the tax increase would be used for and why the county needed to raise taxes while the city school district didn’t.
McCaskill left responses to their comments and questions to Business Manager Doug Segars.
Segars said the proposed increase is above what the school district has requested in the past and exceeds the regular 4 percent limit. However, he said the state Legislature allows the district to go a certain amount beyond a 4 percent vote without a referendum vote. In this case, $216,000 was allowed by the state, and the district chose to use $200,000 of that.
Segars said the district is dealing with both a $270,000 decrease in state funding and a $200,000 increase in what the county has to contribute to its employees’ retirement.
That leaves nearly half a million dollars to make up, he said.
The district also faces about $400,000 in federal cuts, although those figures are not final yet.
At the same time, the district has several major school maintenance projects that need to be completed this year, Segars said. New roofs will be put on at Amanda Elzy High School and the Leflore County High School gym, and a new heating and air conditioning system will be installed at Leflore Elementary. The total bill on those projects is $700,000.
“The expenses seem to be piling up all at once, and the revenues are going in the wrong direction,” Segars said.
Even with the tax increase, the district will still draw about $300,000 from reserves to make ends meet, he said.
Segars said he sympathized with taxpayers’ concerns. He said the county has tried its best to hold costs down and has not asked for exorbitant tax increases despite receiving about $2 million less in state funding than it did in 2007-2008.
Segars noted that the board didn’t ask for a tax increase last year, even though the state has repeatedly told the district that its millage rate is below average and the local contribution should be raised. He said the county’s school tax rate has historically been lower than the city’s school tax rate.
Leflore County Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham was present at the beginning of the meeting, but he left before the public comment period to check on School Board Member Jeanette Brown’s young grandson, who choked on a piece of hard candy as Brown held him from her spot at the front of the room. The meeting was delayed several minutes as board members rushed out to try to dislodge the candy. They turned the boy upside down, and he coughed it up. Brown was too shaken up to return, though.
• Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
