School Funding - Beating a Dead Horse

The 2015-16 fiscal year for York Public Schools came to an end on August 31st. York Public Schools now has even more data to show that our over-reliance on local property taxes isn’t due to “local spending” like some state-level officials want us to believe, it is due to the ineffective way our schools are funded.

• We spent $22,968 LESS than we did the year before
o This comes to about $11,200 per student, which is well below the statewide average of cost per pupil, a measure that some use to determine “efficiency” of school spending

• Our average annual spending increase since 2008 has been only 1.5%
o We’ve made tough cuts and now have 5.25 fewer teachers today than we did 10 years ago
 We also have 18 fewer support staff members than we did 10 years ago
• Our enrollment has grown by more than 12% in that same time span

• HERE’S THE REAL KICKER, HOWEVER
o Our total revenue for 2015-16 was $80,467 LESS than the year before
 Despite our local property taxes INCREASING by $999,780
• Let that sink in for a minute…..$999,780 more in local property taxes than the year before yet our total revenue goes down….

• You see, local property taxes aren’t lining our school district pockets with cash – they’re simply replacing state and federal revenues, often at a deficit

As we look ahead to the 2016-17 fiscal year, the picture gets even worse but we continue to hear state-level officials say that the state doesn’t levy property taxes and “the problem” lies with locally elected boards that spend too much. Locally elected officials get thrown under the bus when this is a statewide issue and the school funding formula is underfunded and manipulated to gobble up local property taxes.

• Our state aid DECREASES another $1.25 Million
o We are up against the maximum levy lid so we will request $300,000 more in local property taxes from you

• However, despite you paying more local property taxes again, our total revenue is projected to DECREASE by another $600,000

• We plan to increase our spending by about $40,000 (.002%) and have a decent chance of not increasing at all

We’re working hard on this issue and have reached out to many farmers and large landowners and will continue to do so. We want to work hand-in-hand with our agriculture community as we work for true property tax relief. We’re trying to bring some possible solutions to York County this fall/winter for discussion. Thanks for your support.

Mike Lucas
York Public Schools