COUNTY CLOCK IS TICKING FOR 2018

Many in the crowd of 150 people walked away from the Hamilton County Commission meeting Wednesday unhappy the county’s fiscal 2018 budget didn’t include an extra $24 million for public schools.

But some in the crowd, and likely many, many county residents, celebrated the fact the budget didn’t contain a tax increase the additional school funds would have required.

If we have to live within our means, residents were thinking, why shouldn’t the school system? If we have to make do with an aging roof for another year and hope we can keep the HVAC system together with duct tape and baling wire, why shouldn’t the schools?

As it is, thanks to growth money from increased property and sales tax revenues and state funding, the school district will get $8 million more than it did in fiscal 2017. Teachers will get a generous 3 percent raise, and the district will have more money for transportation and custodial services.

The budget was approved 8-1, with Commissioner Tim Boyd casting the lone dissenting vote. He had made a motion the commission wait 30 days to approve the budget — giving time for discussion of ways in which schools might eke out more money — but the motion died for lack of a second.

“I saw no harm in the delay,” he said in an email to this page, “and there was nothing pressing about having the budget passed yesterday.”

Even Commissioner Joe Graham, who had suggested two weeks ago that a delayed budget vote would allow a conversation about the county’s certified new tax rate and how that might affect revenues, did not bite. However, he had said he did not plan to bring up the delayed budget if he saw no support on the commission for a tax rate conversation.

For those residents who showed up Wednesday to advocate for a tax increase, for County Mayor Jim Coppinger who says he wants to work with the school district to prove to residents that more school funding will mean better outcomes, for the school board which must prove to taxpayers its $60,000 superintendent search found the right candidate, and for new Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson, the clock is ticking.

A year from now, between the county election in early May and the general election in August, the same parties will be having the budget conversation again.

The residents who advocated a tax increase on Wednesday — County Commissioner Greg Beck among them, he said — will still be on board.

Coppinger, who previously said he found no support for higher taxes among commissiners, said he wants the county and school board to continue discussions about the school district’s budget and goals that might be set for the district. We know Education Committee Chairwoman Sabrena Smedley already is on board for such discussions, and we believe the school board will be, too. Could a workable, viable, long-term plan be worked out for school spending, maintenance and new construction?

Johnson, whether it’s fair or unfair, will be judged on the district’s 2017-2018 school year. Did its iZone schools improve? Where does the district stand with the state’s intervention with those schools? Are district test scores on an overall upward trend? Are municipalities still making noises about leaving the district? Are buses running smoothly? Are new and innovative ideas percolating throughout the district? Is spending within the district — not just on a budget document — becoming more transparent?

If all those things are in place a year from now, would county residents be interested in a tax increase? Our thought is that the public’s appetite for one would be a lot stronger if those things are done.

Senior citizens, who have no children in schools but are worried about limited incomes, might be more interested if a property tax freeze is included in the discussion. The commission has often said the next time it considers raising taxes, it will consider a senior tax freeze, which voters already approved could be given taxpayers ages 65 and older in a 2006 Tennessee constitutional referendum.

Hamilton County last raised property taxes in general in 2008, and the last time it raised taxes for schools was in 2006.

While the county chose not to raise taxes for fiscal 2018, commissioners did vote 6-3 for a resolution by Boyd requiring any nonprofit organization receiving county money that is more than 25 percent of its budget to adopt county travel and procurement policies. The measure also requires a county commissioner be appointed by the commission to serve on the boards of the nonprofits in question.

While we generally agree with the resolution, and believe it will facilitate more transparency and equality in spending, we wish there had been more time to flesh out the implications of the resolution. When the vote was taken, county officials did not know how many nonprofits would be affected and were not clear on how they would determine compliance.

Commissioners Jim Fields, Graham and Greg Martin voted against the resolution. We hope they will keep a particular eye on whether the measure proves to be workable — not to say “I told you so” if it doesn’t but to suggest it be revisited and undone. Naturally, we hope Boyd would be on board in such an instance as well.