Stop Insulting City Residents - And Response (2)

  • Saturday, March 25, 2017

Recently the members of the Hamilton County School Board, Hamilton County commissioners, school administrators and the county mayor met to discuss school funding. According to media reports, one elected official told the group that the cities do not help fund schools. It’s difficult to understand why that comment was made. Cities are made of citizens who pay property taxes twice. So was the comment a veiled suggestion that city residents should somehow be paying more for education? Whatever the intent, the statement was wrong.  

Let's be clear. City residents pay city and county property taxes. A large portion of county taxes goes to fund schools. County taxes are supposed to fund county services that are available countywide. Schools are a countywide responsibility. There is no good reason why residents from any city located in Hamilton County should have their city property taxes fund schools when county property taxes are being collected for the exact same purpose. To suggest otherwise would be to "double dip" in the same pocket. While city residents are forced to pay for a number of county services which they do not receive, city residents should fight additional attempts to add to their tax burdens. 

This is not the first time county officials have whined about having to fund schools "without help." Others have made similar remarks about the county's lone burden of funding prisons and schools. It's as if they think city residents are freeloading on the county's generosity. It is a false concept.  

Now is the time for the uniformed to have a cup of coffee, don spectacles and review revenue sources for school funding. Let's clarify who pays what for education. Note: numbers are rounded. Sources for the following information include the Hamilton County Department of Education, State of Tennessee Department of Education, city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County government. Feel free to review data online.  

The 2016 Hamilton County School System budget, excluding bond revenues, was about $406 million. The federal government supplied $50 million, the state supplied $142.8 million and local revenue sources supplied $220.3 million.  Funding by source: federal 12 percent, state 35 percent and local 52 percent. 

Who supplied the $220.3 million in local funds? Local Hamilton County property taxes supplied $118 million. Remember city residents contribute the vast amount of these dollars via the county taxes they pay. Most county taxpayers are city residents. Also, the largest percentage of commercial properties are located in Chattanooga. Payments made in lieu of taxes supplied $16 million. Miscellaneous school revenues brought in another $15 million. Finally, local option sales taxes, generated within the cities, supplied $71 million. Chattanooga’s portion of the $71 million was $54.2 million, the county supplied $1.5 million, and the remaining cities located in Hamilton County collectively supplied about $15.3 million. 

When you consider the county taxes paid by city residents, Chattanooga PILOT properties, and local sales taxes which go to fund schools, approximately $146.6 million of local school dollars were generated inside Chattanooga. Chattanooga and other Hamilton County located cities fund schools. The city of Chattanooga and its property owners (directly and indirectly) are responsible for generation of about 67 percent of the local school revenues.  

During the same budget school year, Chattanooga paid $26 million in city tax dollars to help VW expand. Over $100 million in local goods and services has previously been donated to support the VW Industrial site. Remember these donations are mostly to support infrastructure for companies who do not pay full property taxes. Those that understand revenue know that if the city residents in Redbank, Signal Mountain, Collegedale, Lookout Mountain, East Ridge, Lakesite, and Soddy Daisy did not pay taxes to facilitate construction and maintenance of public infrastructure to support businesses, there would be virtually no sales tax to collect and donate to schools. The bottom line is: cities and their city residents carry the largest funding load for schools.  

My message to the Hamilton County mayor and commissioners is as follows: 

We elect the School Board members and you to work together to make wise decisions. You should take the time to understand where school funds come from, so you do not insult the intelligence of the people who faithfully pay county tax bills. Do not try to guilt city residents or their home cities, unless you are trying to make city residents pay more than twice. That would be an unwise move for an elected official.  

We expect you to do your job.  If money is needed for school construction, prison construction or maintenance, do what you must do to accomplish the task. There are some creative ways to it without raising taxes. One way would require many of you to stow your egos and work in a collaboration with other governmental bodies. The cities located in Hamilton County and the county could work together to eliminate duplications of equipment and services. A number of local expenditures are replicated in numerous local governmental entities at great cost to all taxpayers. This would not require metro government, but it would require intergovernmental cooperation.  

Dual Taxpayer,
Deborah Scott
Chattanooga 

* * * 

I want to thank Deborah Scott for this letter. As a resident of the city of Chattanooga, I am weary of the complaints of the folks in the unincorporated areas of the county when it comes to supporting Hamilton County Schools. According to the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, schools are a function of the county. That is why when the city of Chattanooga gave up their schools the county had to take them up. When it comes to the support of the schools, it should not matter where you are located in the county, the support should be equal.

As a resident of the city of Chattanooga, I am tired of the idea that we in the city are not contributing anything to the schools or to the general county government. That idea is completely erroneous. Those of us in the cities of Hamilton County pay the same taxes to the county as those who are only in the county plus whatever our city governments cover. I am tired of the idea even expressed by our county commissioners that we are somehow not doing our part to support the governmental needs of Hamilton County. 

Bottom line is this: If the taxes that are paid throughout Hamilton County are not enough to support the needs of the county, then they should be raised.  Let’s just stop the nonsense that the city residents aren’t paying their fair share. Frankly, as I see it, the city residents have been subsidizing the county residents for too long and it’s time for that to stop.

Wayne Cook
Chattanooga 

* * * 

Thank you both, Mrs. Scott and Mr. Cook, for bringing up this issue of taxes. 

Although your issue is taxes for schools, the same could be said for those who rent not paying their fair share of taxes. Renters actually pay more property taxes than those who own. It always made me angry when we rented in Chattanooga and were accused of not paying our fair share of taxes. Rental property is considered commercial property. Commercial property pays, according to our Tennessee Constitution, 60 percent more in taxes than personal property. Personal property is taxed on 25 percent of its appraised value. Commercial property is taxed at 40 percent, not to mention the fact a similar piece of property will have a higher appraised value for commercial use. 

Depending on what else is going on, attention often seems to be diverted elsewhere doesn't it? 

What is that saying about dividing and conquering? Maybe we should all make it a habit to stand back, breathe deep a few times, and then look at a larger picture to see what might be going on that some would like to divert our attention from. 

Vicki Rodgers
Nine Mile, Tn.


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