FORTVILLE — The din of voices both for and against still hung in the air as the Mt. Vernon School Board moved forward with a plan to place a referendum for a voluntary $1 million property tax increase on the general election ballot. 

    The board on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a property tax rate that does not exceed 12.33 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation in addition to the district’s normal tax rate. The increase would remain in effect for seven calendar years. The board voted 3-0 in favor, with President Kevin Burk and member Paul Riddle absent. 

    The step allowed the district to meet a July 8 deadline for delivering the referendum request to the Hancock County Council. The council, which must approve the referendum, has the matter on its agenda for its meeting next Wedensday. 

    If approved, the corporation has until Aug. 2, to file the referendum with the Hancock County Election Office; the board then has three weeks to decide whether to place the referendum on the Nov. 2 ballot. 
 
    Based on information from the state, the school corporation can expect reductions to its 2011 budget similar to those of 2010: About $910,000. 

    To cover that shortfall and help guard against more teacher layoffs, MV Superintendent Bill Riggs recommended the school board set the referendum request at $1 million. 

    The district terminated the contracts of 12 teachers in April but managed to rehire two educators thanks to a pair of lastminute retirements. 

    At the proposed rate of 12.33 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, the annual property tax bill increase from the referendum – after taking into consideration standard and supplemental homestead deductions and mortgage exemptions – would be:
    ¸$20.34 for a $75,000 home;
    ¸$80.45 for a $150,000 home;
    ¸$200.67 for a $300,000 home. 

    Although the crowd was mostly full of MV teachers and administrators, there were a few community members who expressed their disgust with the corporation’s request for more taxpayer money. 

    “Your most valuable asset is your educators, and you instead milked us dry for the buildings and the athletic facilities,” said Carol Flynn, who was also a major player in the community’s remonstrance against the corporation’s $136 million bond request for new facilities during the 2004-05 school year. The request was eventually cut in half. “Guess what? Your priorities were way off, and you have taught the students to misplace their priorities, too.” 

    She suggested that the referendum is simply unfair to 80 percent of people living in the district who do not have students in MV schools. 

    Flynn pointed out that although the building improvements weren’t subsidized by the corporation’s general fund – the fund primarily comprised of teacher and administrator salaries – it is the general fund that is most affected by state budget cuts. Taxpayers are the ones footing the bill in both situations, she said. 

    “I know it’s from a different pocket,” Flynn said. “But it’s still the taxpayers’ pocket. And they’re sitting on empty. I have no sympathy for the school district. You screwed up. No more bailouts. Figure out how to live within your budget just like the rest of us.” 

    Resident Jim Metcalf said he’s against the referendum even though he’s a strong supporter of education. He said he’d rather spend his money to send his grandchildren to college. 

    Several MV administrators and teachers insisted that further cuts will prevent the corporation from keeping promising young teachers and will create student-teacher ratios that will hurt the corporation’s youth. 

    Mt. Comfort Elementary School Principal Phil Davis said the tax increase would go a long way. 

    “As a taxpayer, who wants to add more money to their taxes?” Davis said. “It’s illogical. But it’s a very small investment.” 

    Mt. Vernon Middle School Principal John Price said taxpayers who don’t have students enrolled in the corporation need to look at the bigger picture. 

    “I don’t understand anybody that doesn’t care about their neighbor,” Price said. “The future of our country is education. If we don’t support it now, I don’t know what it will be in 30 years.” 

    Mt. Vernon High School Principal Bernie Campbell said that further cuts without relief from the referendum would likely lead to the elimination of athletics and courses not directly tied to Indiana educational standards, including art, music, foreign languages and other vocational classes, leaving the curriculum to resemble one experienced by students 50 years ago. 

    “For the 12.5 cents we’re talking about, why don’t we find out?” Campbell asked. “Let’s get rid of the computers that are in our schools. Let’s get rid of the vocational classes. For that amount of money, let’s find out what it would be like for our teachers to teach the basics.” 

    Fortville Elementary School music teacher Heather Walton agreed that eliminating “non-essential” areas of the curriculum like the arts could severely stunt student development. 

    “We can get down to the meat and potatoes, but what kind of human beings are we going to be at that point?” Walton said.
© 2024 Daily Reporter