Efficiency first, then talk taxes
The votes in Shelby County from the general election have been counted, and all that’s left is the official certification of the totals next week.
But we don’t need any formality over the numbers to tell us that supporters of an ill-fated referendum calling for a half-cent countywide sales tax increase made a horrible miscalculation about its chances of passing.
A whopping 69 percent of voters in Memphis and unincorporated areas of the county rejected the tax increase, which supporters claimed would raise $60 million a year, with $30 million of it going to schools.
County Commissioner Mike Ritz, who led the charge in support of the referendum, was convinced that a large turnout for the presidential election — it was 62 percent — offered the best chance for the tax proposal to pass and raise enough money to help offset a projected $57 million deficit in city and county schools.
Ritz ignored warnings, mainly from county Mayor Mark Luttrell, that the referendum was premature. Instead, the commission chairman persuaded others in city and county government, including Memphis Mayor A C Wharton, to see it his way. Boy, were they wrong. “The sales tax initiative was ill conceived and poorly planned,” Luttrell said last week.
But enough of the secondguessing. What’s vitally important now is that leaders in city government, county government, on the unified school board and, yes, even in suburban cities stop fighting one another and figure out how to make the looming school merger work.
A few things are certain. The merger will occur in August 2013, ready or not. The unified school system is facing a huge budget shortfall. And political leaders must wait at least a year before asking voters to consider another sales tax referendum.
The school deficit, however, does not have to be $57 million if the school board acts on more of the recommendations from the Transition Planning Commission. So far, the board has approved only a handful of the TPC’s 172 recommendations.
Still on the table are big- dollar proposals to close some schools and outsource certain jobs, including custodial services.
Luttrell wants the school board to make tough choices to reduce the $57 million deficit by at least $13 million. And then listen to suggestions from the County Commission about additional cuts.
In the end, Luttrell said, some combination of sales taxes and additional property taxes is likely necessary to operate schools. But not until every efficiency in the school budget is achieved.
The Nov. 6 election results make it clear. When it comes to school funding, elected leaders throughout the county would be wise to follow Luttrell’s lead. Columnist Otis Sanford holds the Hardin Chair of Excellence in Journalism at the University of Memphis. Contact him at 901-678-3669 or at o.sanford@ memphis.edu.