A school-finance survey conducted last fall by Education Week asked state officials, “What is the most pressing issue regarding school finance for your state?” Concerns over property taxes came up in their responses as the most pressing issue in several states. Following is a sample of those responses.
“In the context of the tremendous decline in revenues coming in to Connecticut, the stability and predictability of state education aid becomes a critical concern for local school districts since towns must either cut spending or make up for lost state support with increased property-tax revenues.”
- “Reliance on property taxes created perennial inequities and an overall issue of adequacy.”
- “Overreliance on local property tax for K- 12 education funding.”
- “The unequal distribution of the property tax and the overreliance on the local property tax to fund elementary and secondary public education.”
- “Rapidly increasing property taxes caused by rising property values and increasing school costs. With fixed state property-tax rates, as values increase the tax billsincrease too.
- “Revenue limits allow districts to increase their state and local property-tax revenues commensurate with changes in their enrollment and for inflation. As a result of these restrictions, many districts, particularly those experiencing declining enrollment, are becoming increasingly unable to maintain all of their current programs and staff.”
SOURCE: Education Week Research
