Archive: News

My mind isn't made up about the School District's proposed Capital Project Phase II, but I came away from last Monday's School Board meeting decidedly crabby. A 10% rise in what I thought were already high taxes seemed a bit steep to me, and that's if only the first proposition passes. As currently configured there will be three propositions. If that didn't make me crabby enough, the Wednesday Ad Hoc Committee meeting really set me off. The tour of the Middle and High Schools showed crowded, unsafe spaces in the areas of art, music and technology. How could we let this happen?

It has seemed to me that we are already pretty generous with our schools. And we get what we pay for. We have an excellent school system, something the whole town can be proud of. Our kids are better than average achievers, smart, bright, good kids. But taxpayers have bills to pay and if we are already so generous how can we afford 10% to 13% more? I realized I was going on impression, so I decided to find out exactly how generous we are per household.

Because there are two ways to measure this generosity: the overall annual amount the schools get (the tax levy) and the annual amount taxpayers pay (the tax rate). From district to district these numbers are different, depending on the schools' needs and the population of the district. Ten people have to pay $100 to make $1,000. 100 people only pay $10 each.

Note: The final scope and cost of the project have not been definitely set yet.  These are the current numbers, but are subject to change as the School Board continues to work on what exactly the project will include and how it is broken out into propositions that taxpayers will vote on.

But what taxpayers, myself included, think about is that second number -- what is it going to cost me? At last Monday's Board of Education meeting Dr. Richard Timbs told the board that as it stands in its current form Proposition 1 alone (the base proposition that included additions and upgrades to the entire campus) would cost $174 per $100,000 of assessed value of your home. If you add Proposition 2 (the High School Auditorium) it would be $230 per $100,000.

Out of context these numbers don't seem like much -- or they seem like a lot. So I looked up local tax rates. And I have to say I was surprised at what I found. In 2005 our tax rate was $18.379 per $1000. So that means the $100,000 house in our example paid $1837.90 last September. Ithacans paid $17.954. The same valued house (it wouldn't be as nice a house, because homes in Ithaca cost more, and there is more population density in the city) paid $1795.40. Aside from Ithaca, Lansing has the lowest tax rate of any Tompkins County school district (2005 figures).  The rate is lower in surrounding counties, but for Tompkins ours is reasonable.

Guess what the guy with the $100,000 house paid in Trumansburg... $2080.35. That's $242.45 more than the Lansing homeowner paid. We would still pay 12.45 less than that if we approve proposition one and two.

Now you have to figure that if taxpayers pass the Capital Project there are hidden costs. Staffing the new programs, maintaining the new facilities... that will add to the annual general fund needed in future years. And while costs go up it is projected that the school population will fall. However there is an undeniable need in our schools, especially in the High School. There is a real worry among school officials that Lansing kids won't be able to compete in the world if programs aren't adjusted for changing times.

So what's a taxpayer to do? New School Superintendent Mark Lewis has initiated a citizen's committee to get a feel for what the community will accept, and the jury is still out on that as the participants are collecting information on the project. The School Board hopes to put it to a vote this Spring, so decision time is coming soon.

As for myself, I don't know yet. Skimping on schools is skimping on the future. But there are bills to pay.

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