Aug 03
THIS IS NOT A BILL – DO NOT PAY
2006 at 7:30 am | posted by Rep. Craig Frank 7 comments
The Utah County Auditor’s Property Tax Notice came in the mail the other day (just as it has every July for the past decade). Clearly marked at the top were the words “THIS IS NOT A BILL – DO NOT PAY.” What a relief! Do not pay. Thank goodness!
As I perused the data on the notice, my eyes rested on four little words in the lower right corner next to the new and improved, adjusted (upward) “proposed” tax of $1,927.64 (based on my primary residence–$1,788.71 last year) they said, “PLEASE READ OTHER SIDE.” I did as I was instructed–eagerly I flipped the page over. Sure enough, 2 ½” down from the top on the back side were those words again, “DO NOT PAY.” (This time the statement was underlined.) Well, Alright!!!
Just as I was about to burst out in song…bam! Way down at the bottom of the back side, printed in black bolded type were the words, “TAXES ARE DUE NOVEMBER 30, 2006.” Darn it all…I knew it was too good to be true.
Somewhat dejected, I flipped the Valuation Notice over again to the front. Clearly labeled about two-thirds of the way down on the left-hand side was a list of the taxing entities. Alpine School District (Basic) $276.47, Alpine School District (Other) $979.61…yadda, yadda, yadda…Pleasant Grove City $371.00. To my surprise 65.2% of my property tax bill was going toward Public Education related assessments. (Another point of interest for many who may not know it: 100% of our state Personal Income Tax & Corporate and Franchise Taxes fund Public Education in the State of Utah, too.) I must say, taking a step back and carefully looking at my Property Valuation Notice was a little chilling.
Just as I was recovering from the shock of being a property owner…I was walking by the kitchen counter and my eye caught hold of a stack of papers. It was the bill pile. Conspicuously placed on the top of the pile were three sheets of paper clearly showing the Fall 2006 class schedules of each of my three children of high school and junior high school age. My eyes drifted down the page–what was this? FEE STATEMENT. How could this be? The State of Utah is supposed to have a free public education system. Look here its right in the Constitution…
Article X, Section 2. [Defining what shall constitute the public school system.]
The public education system shall include all public elementary and secondary schools and such other schools and programs as the Legislature may designate. The higher education system shall include all public universities and colleges and such other institutions and programs as the Legislature may designate. Public elementary and secondary schools shall be free, (Darn, I must have skipped over this part the last time I read the Constitution) except the Legislature may authorize the imposition of fees in the secondary schools.
Ouch! Textbook rental fee $35.00…yadda, yadda, yadda…TOTAL REQUIRED FEES $159.00. Next page. Textbook rental fee $35.00…yadda, yadda, yadda…TOTAL REQUIRED FEES $229.00. Next page. (And this is my junior high schooler) Activity $5.00…yadda, yadda, yadda…TOTAL $210.00. I could barely stand up for the lack of blood rushing out of my head toward my feet. $159.00…plus… $229.00…plus…where’s my calculator?…p-p-p-p-p-plus $210.00…equals…equals…$598.00. Oh my! $598.00…plus…$276.47…plus…$979.61 …plus…personal school supplies, pencils, erasers, etc, etc, etc…$300.00…equals…$2,154.08! (This doesn’t include 100% of my Personal Income Tax.) And, did I remember hearing Alpine School District was going after a $250 Million dollar bond in the November election. What will be my portion of that?
Breathe Craig…just breathe. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I like paying my taxes just as much as the next guy. But when the fees I pay for my kids to attend public schools are nearly 50% (47.61%) of my annual property tax assessment—who are we kidding?
Oh Brigham, what have we done!
August 3rd, 2006 at 1:48 pm
And yet, education is perpetually “under funded.” Utah is consistently last place in how much per-pupil cash we toss into the system (as if that is any kind of important measure of the quality of education). And although per pupil costs have soared 450% (in real Dollars) since 1960, our kids constantly perform worse in the hard sciences than they did back then.
Gee, perhaps there is something wrong with the basic structure and culture of our industrial education complex, which, in Utah, is a huge monolythic monopoly that tenaciously fights against any measure that might loosen its autocratic grip.
Could it have anything to do with the massive expansion of middle management in our school disticts over the past 46 years? Or maybe a pay system that focuses on retaining long-term teachers at the expense of undervaluing beginning teachers? Or maybe a system that says it wants parental involvement, but then does everything in its power to prevent real, effective parental involvement? Hmmm.
August 4th, 2006 at 12:04 am
Six years of serving on the Public Education Appropriations Committee taught me this: 1. No matter what is appropriated to public ed, the public ed community will ALWAYS lobby for more money – it is what they do. 2. There is not enough tax money in the whole state of Utah to either satisfy the public ed community, or to bring about the excellence in education that we all desire. There is but one real, lasting solution – that is school choice – competition. When school administrators compete for their students and feel the rewards for winning that competition, great things can happen. We can see the results of that now in Utah, both in district and charter schools – and it is happening now, even within our existing budgets. Utah parents and schoolchildren need not despair. There really is a solution to our Utah education challenge. And it is working now. We just have to have the political courage to further embrace the solution.
August 4th, 2006 at 12:10 am
I just did some calculations on my property tax. I noticed that while some entities had increases, Alpine District had a REDUCTION in property tax of almost 15% from last year, for me it was a $157.22 reduction. Also not all of the state income tax goes to public schools. A significant portion now goes to fund colleges. It is true that there has been a big increase since 1960. What is not mentioned with that is the even bigger growth in government requirements and societal problems. If we could take away all of those, we are probably putting in less money for the average student than we were then. While Alpine is asking for a bond election to build schools, it\’s too bad that impact fees can\’t be charged to fund that instead.
P.S. You have a real gift with words! Keep writing!
August 4th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Rep Dave Cox
Thanks for setting me straight. You are completely correct when you said 100% of our Personal Income Tax goes into Public AND Higher education. I guess, over the years, I’ve just considered all the dollars coming out of my wallet, in the form of taxes, to be public money (i.e. Public Education, Public Higher Education, Public Transportation, Public Welfare Programs, etc.). It all seems to be Public. Public education, whether it be K-12 or Higher Ed, recieves 100% of our Personal and Corporate Income Tax dollars.
HB 294 (2006 General Session), Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Alexander, created the “Education Fund,” a fund specifically designed to “recieve all revenues from taxes on intangible property or from a tax on income.” (See Long Title of HB294)
Line 58-59 states (Enrolled copy): “The Education Fund shall recieve all revenues from taxes on intangible property or from a tax on income and shall be designated for public [AND] higher education.”
There, with a few simple words, no more confusion as to how the money comes out of our pockets, up to the Tax Commission, into the Education Fund, and then either to Public Ed or Higher Ed. (Talkin’ about beatin’ a dead harse.)
Congratulations for being one of the lucky ones paying less for their ASD assessments. Mine will be going up $76.45 (6.48% increase). Maybe we can get together next time and swap checks and leave the Assessor out of this.
Craig.
August 9th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
I too am not a fan of many of the fees authorized by the legislature, particularly mandatory fees like “textbook usage.” Materials fees for wood shop or activity fees for sports participation are understandable, but fees for a basic public education are not something I support. Perhaps you wish to open a bill file?
On a related note, I find it interesting that while the Legislature is talking about cutting taxes, a good number of school districts are raising them at the ballot box, and the public is responding favorably. Poll after poll shows the public believes education is underfunded and would rather see increased education spending than substantial tax cuts.
August 17th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
There’s no such thing as a free public education. When we’re talking government and free, we’re really talking WE. We all pay for public education. Some who are grown will complain that they are paying for the eduation of other’s children. I personally like to see it as repaying the system for the education it advanced me.
Unfortunately, when it comes to tax revenue, Utah is a relatively poor state. As such, we pay high taxes and underfund just about everything. I think the Utah Legislature does a good job of managing our needs and making sure that no single entity, clamoring for our tax money is too underfunded.
December 31st, 2006 at 10:54 am
[...] Just A Thought: Has the Utah Taxpayer’s Association also included Constitutionally approved Secondary Education Fees (grades 7 through 12) as part of the overall Tax/Fee burden computation? Remember this POST?! Just try to get your students’ grades if you haven’t paid those fees! [...]