An important tax proposal is on the ballot in Charleston County this November: a sales tax increase planned to expire after six years. CCSD's Superintendent Nancy McGinley has thrown her full support behind the passage of this proposal to raise money for the district, and yet. . .
She refuses to appear with Richard Todd on a local radio station to answer the public's questions about her pet project.
McGinley-watchers know full well how she manages to dodge and manipulate the public whenever the slight possibility arises that someone might ask a question about the Charleston County Schools who won't be jeopardizing his or her job by doing so. One such question might raise some more even more embarrassing questions.
Who knows where that might lead, like to a forensic audit of the district.
And we all know she's planning to fall back on a property-tax increase anyway, so why answer questions from taxpayers?
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
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9 comments:
I don't know if South Carolina law will allow a recall proceedure for elected officials, but someone might want to look into it.
If any member of the Charleston County School Board has the gall to vote for a property tax increase after the voters disapprove a sales tax referendum, then they should be removed from office. Should a recall become necessary, on their way out some board might want to fire the staff members who suggested the sales tax in the first place. These same staffers also said the board should raise property taxes anyway, if the referendum fails, as a backup measure in support of CCSD's budget policies. No one seems to be able to explain the budget policies either.
McGinley got bushwhacked back in May 2007 when the downtown crowd turned out in large numbers to give bi-racial support for a new charter high school to use the vacant Rivers campus. Goodloe assured her the crowd was in her pocket and would come out against a charter school. She was caught off guard and Goodloe left her holding the bag. Judging from how she handled that experience, she is someone who doesn't like situations where she can't control the outcome. She is a control freak and she is extremely insecure. Just ask anyone who has been on the receiving end of her sarcastic remarks. She can't afford to sound on tape like she really sounds when the agenda and questions are not of her making.
McGinley is afraid people will see her for what she really is.
Can somebody answer this question for me?...
I keep hearing the either/or proposition of "Well, it's the sales tax increase or the property tax increase."
Is that true? Does the school board (9 or 11 or so people) really have the authority to raise taxes?
And if not, why do people assume the public would support either of the tax increases?
They have the authority to raise the property tax--just need a majority of board members.
Why should I have to pay taxes for schools I don't use. I want my money to go to the school I use. SCVCS. Thing need to really change in education for our kids. Parents need to be able to control their money and where it goes and what's best for them.
Will that happen? NOT
Babbie-
Isn't that unusual for members of a county school board to have the authority to raise county property taxes? Do other states allow this? This is outrageous. Are you saying those individuals could raise property taxes 100% or 500% if they wanted to? This is crazy.
Yes, the school board can increase school property taxes.
See:
http://www.sctax.org/Publications/mov2sc.html
"Counties, cities and school districts are authorized to impose ad valorem taxes on real and personal property. The local government assesses and collects the property tax under the direction and assistance of the Department of Revenue. Property tax dollars support public schools and the services local governments provide."
Owner-occupied homes are exempt from property taxes to pay for school operations (not debt service). Businesses, cars, rental properties, etc. are not.
I'm almost sure there's a limit on how much property taxes can increase in a given year (not just school taxes - any property taxes). I don't know whether that applies to property taxes raised to pay off debt on capital improvements.
Local governmental entities, such as school boards, have the authority to levy property taxes in SC up to a debt limit equal to 8% of the total assessed value of the taxable property within the juridiction. If the local authority wants to exceed the 8% debt limit, a public referendum must be passed first to authorize the action to exceed the limit. The sales tax referendum is a special tax which requires public approval not unlike approval to exceed the 8% debt limit. As long as CCSD has not exceeded its 8% debt limit, the board can rack up additional debt by leveraging capital bonds almost at will. No voter approval is required. Since 2011 is a reassessment year, the debt limit will be expanded as the overall tax base is increased...but you can bet no one at CCSD is discussing that with the public.
What make the Charleston County School District unusual in SC is that it has no checks and balances to oversee its access to taxpayers' reserves. Most school boards in SC present their budgets for approval to county councils or to elected officials like the county auditor or treasurer for approval. This would include review of proposed bond issues and tax referendums. Charleston County originally had a cap or limit on the tax rate it could use. That measure was intended to allow the Charleston County School Board to have fiscal autonomy within a prescribed tax limit. When that limit was repealed about 10 years ago, the county delegation forgot to replace that limit with other checks and balances. As it now stands, the Charleston County School Board operates with few restrictions and is unique among school districts in SC in this regard.
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