The Board of Education’s Financial Death Spiral

Opinion by John Williamson:

The good news is that the School System spent less money this year than last. Because of its careful management and the zealous efforts of our tax commissioner Becky Marshall there was no deficit this year as in the past. Thanks.

The bad news is that the Board of Education’s 5-year financial forecast includes an annual deficit of about $2,000,000. In 5 years the reserve of nearly $19,000,000 will be reduced to about $9,000,000. Without some changes this represents a financial death spiral.

There is no immediate concern for us citizens and taxpayers. If the millage rate stays the same, if the tax digest increases a little, and if the deficits stay about $2M, the $19M reserve will be adequate to cover the annual deficits for years to come.

What happens when our reserves run out? The school system is now operating on an effective millage rate of 18.5 mils although the taxpayer only sees 16.62 mils this year thanks to the reserve fund. Will the millage rate jump? Will there have to be dramatic cuts in our educational system?

We are brainwashed to accept whatever our public education leaders tell us is necessary to run a quality school system; taxpayers should suck it up and not complain. Unfortunately more money doesn’t necessarily translate into better results as we have seen nationally and even with the recent mediocre local performance record.

What about our priorities? Gilmer County has fielded state champions in wrestling for 15 years, yet support is marginal. There have been state champions in robotics and technology and yet that program is begging citizens for support money this year. Our fledgling swim program fielded many finalists in state competition yet it has to rely on private and county pools for training. The Optimists and Chic-Fil-A provided our teachers with several thousand dollars of welcome school supplies in the Stuff the Bus program.

Few, if any, citizens attend the Board of Education working and official meetings. If you are concerned about our school system, why not show up at meetings and be a constructive part of the school system that spends more than 70% of your property tax dollar? For your information, all budget documents are posted on the school’s webpage under Board Meetings.