Proposed school budget could raise Hamilton County property taxes

The Hamilton County Department of Education is seen in this file photo.
The Hamilton County Department of Education is seen in this file photo.
photo Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger

Calculate your tax

To calculate your possible tax increase, take the assessed value of your home, reduce it to 25 percent, and then multiply by .00285. So a $100,000 home would result in a calculation of $25,000 multiplied by $.00285, or $71.25.

Hamilton County commissioners got their first detailed look at the proposed school board budget for 2017 on Tuesday, a spending plan that would require a property tax increase of about $71 more a year for a home valued at $100,000, if fully funded.

Tuesday's meeting among the commissioners and school board staff was a two-and-a-half-hour workshop, examining each section of the budget in detail.

Neither the commissioners nor County Mayor Jim Coppinger made any commitments to providing the extra money. The county has not raised property taxes in eight years, and Coppinger has said he will only increase them as a last resort. But a coalition of civic leaders has launched a proposal known as Chattanooga 2.0, which is working to improve public education and workforce readiness, and at a recent meeting hosted by the group in Soddy-Daisy, Coppinger said that perhaps the "last resort" is at hand.

Overall, the school system is asking for a base budget of $351.2 million, plus $33.8 million in additional spending. Overall revenues are expected to be $360.8 million, leaving a shortfall of $24.2 million to be covered by a tax hike.

The commissioners may not approve the entire school budget increase, and if there is a tax hike, Coppinger and the commissioners could add in other items such as a new county jail that would add to the property tax increase. A final budget won't be presented to the commission until June 8, and the date the commissioners would vote on the budget has not been set.

Specifically, the extra funding would add $.00285 to the current school system assessment of $.0137 for every dollar of property assessment. Property taxes are calculated at only 25 percent of the assessed value of the home.

The largest chunk of the additional funding would go to workforce and college readiness programs. That includes $4.1 million for computers and other equipment and to improve the student computer network. $3.8 million is needed for additional personnel for curriculum and information technology support, while $2 million would be spent to expand the Hamilton County High School adult education program and for the Volkswagen Academy and other training programs. $8.8 million would be used as incentives to recruit and retain teachers with specific skills.

Some $7.2 million in extra spending is needed for literacy programs, school system officials said. About $2.6 million of that money would go for additional academic support for each elementary school, to be used at the school's discretion for hiring more teachers or teacher's aides. Another $1.5 million would go to increase instructional support for all schools. And $2.5 million would be spent on professional training for teachers, with $1 million needed to hire more teachers due to increased enrollment.

School officials say they need $5.7 million more for high-priority schools, where students are not performing well. $3.5 million of that money would be used to add more personnel, after school programs and instructional materials. $560,000 would fund hiring seven more teachers for English Language Learners (ELL), primarily Hispanic students whose English language skills are lacking, and 3.5 interpreters for the ELL program. An additional $1.5 million would go to charter schools to cover the cost of 185 new students.

The remaining $1.7 of the requested increase would pay for capital maintenance and repairs ($1 million) and for increased expenditures for utilities ($565,000).

The commission has scheduled hearings on the budget for May 17.

Contact reporter Steve Johnson at sjohnson@timesfreepress.com, 423-757-6673, on Twitter @stevejohnsonTFP, and on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/noogahealth.

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