It sure looks like UnifiEd is pulling out all the stops to get its desired tax increase on Hamilton County property owners. Support from the Chamber of Commerce and prominent business leaders. Support from local foundations. Support from County Mayor Jim Coppinger. Support from the local media. Billboards up all over town. Students going door to door. All to support the schools. And the “children.” Sounds so altruistic, doesn’t it?
That’s a lot of effort to increase taxes beyond increasing the tax base in Hamilton County. If passed, the new property tax rates will make Hamilton County the second highest-taxed property owners in the state to Shelby County. Without Shelby County's size and tax base. And property owners living within cities like Chattanooga, Signal Mountain, Collegedale and others are doubly hit. Once passed, those rates are locked in and will never go down, largely because once the school system’s budget is increased, by state law it cannot be reduced below that level in the future. So this tax increase guarantees that tax burden will remain on county property owners way beyond 2019. A permanent, structural burden. Without an increase in the foundational tax base.
So, here’s the situation. Property taxes were last raised in 2017; the driving reason was to provide funding to build necessary new schools. After just two years the school board is campaigning for another increase this year; this time to help defray increased operational costs for programs that promise positive results (though high-dollar central office staff grows more than three times the rate of new teachers and teaching assistants). To outsiders, that new funding seems to be targeted at funding the system, not the classroom. Next, the big surprise for Hamilton County taxpayers is that Dr. Johnson and the HCDE appear to have concealed the results of the report on the physical plant conditions of the present 70-odd schools, which will likely generate the next school board public relations campaign for yet another tax increase.
All for the promise of better results. For property owners who each have to live within their own means, and who don’t pay a lot of attention to politics, promises seem like flimflammery. Voting property owners remember when their property taxes get raised, and it must seem as if very little time has gone by since the last tax increase. Yes, they get that costs increase due to inflation and other expenses, and that teachers and sheriff deputies and emergency personnel who haven’t seen a raise in years deserve a raise. But an increase of 13.4 percent in school spending in one year that will extend for perpetuity – with more increases inevitable – seems more than generous. All while residents are only getting part of the story from the politicians on the school board and the bureaucrats in the school system. And from the slick political public relations machine led by outsiders that is UnifiEd.
Trust is a fragile thing. UnifiEd, the school board and the HCDE have run a polished campaign to gain a larger portion of public funding in the county. They promise (as always) if we only get this funding, all will be good in the future. While the slick sales job has sold a lot of area leaders, I think the larger voting public is unconvinced and will remain unconvinced until a more substantial record of positive results – and trust – is established. Dr. Johnson’s job has only begun.
Brendan Jennings
Chattanooga Tea Party