From today's News-Gazette:
Board member Valerie Woodruff said she's been approached by individuals who don't know much about the tax but are automatically opposed to new taxes.
But when board members explain that it could provide some property tax relief, "they're good with it" said board member Max McComb.
But one of the forum's attendees, Lea Ehrhardt, said she's not so sure that property tax relief will happen.
"The lottery was supposed to help pay for education. It didn't work," she said. "It looks like a good deal but it doesn't seem to happen that way."
She and two other attendees, Eric Thorsland and Joe Tandy, all said they'd like to see some sort of clause in the legislation that provides for an end to the tax unless it's reapproved by voters.
People are right to be skeptical. Even in the best-case scenarios, residents of two school districts in Chamapign County would get absolutely no property tax relief, and residents of other districts would get much less property tax relief than this new tax would generate.
If there is no property tax relief, I am totally opposed this new tax.
There may be some temporary property tax relief given in order to get this new tax passed, but that relief can disappear the next year while this new sales tax will go on forever. Once this tax is voted in, it will never go away and taxpayers do not have to reauthorize it...ever. In that sense, it is worse than the property tax since the property tax can go down after a building or the bonds are paid off. Not the case with the proposed new sales tax.
Regardless of how they try to sell this new tax, it is in fact a new and higher tax and not a property tax replacement.
Regarding temporary property tax relief that schools will give to get this sales tax passed, and then possibly take away in future years....... In order to offer property tax relief, districts will have to pay off building bonds. That is the only way to offer property tax relief with the sales tax schools would receive. In order for the property tax relief to be 'taken away', a local board of education would have to place a new building bond initiative on a local ballot and it would have to pass. That gives local residents, not the schools, the control over 'reversing' the property tax relief. In many cases school districts will opt to pay for future building initiative with the sales tax income and not ask for property tax money to pay for new construction. In short, for districts to reverse the property tax relief, they would have to have a good reason to go back to the voters to do it, and the voters would have to agree.
This is much different than the "lottery for education". That all gets run through the state budget, which is why education has never seen additional money from the lottery. We all know how the state operates. Property taxes and the proposed sales tax all gets handled at the county level and by local voters. There is much more local control.