Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger sounds as if he is, to use the title of a 1984 Bonnie Tyler song, "holding out for a hero."
In a budget workshop session this week, detailing his reasons for not seeking a property tax increase to pay for school improvements and needs identified by other county departments, he said the following:
- "There is a perception that we waste a lot of money, not just in the school system, but in the government in general."
- " the overwhelming majority of the people feel the same way (about not requesting a tax increase)."
- " we can't validate this to the public."
Yet, Coppinger also said:
- The county and the school district need to work together to correct the mistaken perception about such waste.
- Elected officials need to go to the community and "push back" against the misconceptions.
- "We're there for you (school board members). Nobody's in denial."
If Coppinger is waiting for the people or the county commissioners to be the heroes, though, he might be waiting a long while. Members of the public, no matter what they may say in private conversations, aren't going to beat a path to the mayor's door requesting a hike in their property taxes.
For example, UnifiEd, a community-led organization that advocates for better public schools, said it has verified that more than 500 people per month have contacted the mayor and commission in support of increased school funding since the organization began its Fund Hamilton County's Future campaign.
But favoring increased school funding and saying you'd be delighted to pay an extra $106 annually (the amount to fund only the school district's request) in property taxes on a median-value $158,000 home are two different things.
Similarly, county commissioners may publicly say - and believe - the school district has many needs that are not being met but are unlikely to loudly trumpet that they will be behind a movement to raise property taxes.
Indeed, it would be difficult to find a county commissioner who is not sympathetic to the needs of the schools in his and her particular community.
So, since no "streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds" or "white knight upon a fiery steed" - to use Bonnie Tyler's words - are likely to appear to advocate for a tax increase, we would prefer Coppinger to have been more definitive. We would like for his words to have matched his fiscal 2018 budget, which contains no property tax increase, no discretionary funds for commissioners but is $12 million higher than fiscal 2017.
Instead of "there is a perception ," "the overwhelming majority of the people feel " and "we can't validate this ," we would have liked for him to have personalized his decision. To wit:
- "Without significant measurable improvement in our schools, I can't advocate a tax increase this year."
- Or "The public perception is that county government wastes money. It doesn't, but so many people believe it that I can't sell a property tax increase to the community."
- Or "I would like to raise taxes this year, but county commissioners have told me they won't support it."
Which brings us to next year. Conventional wisdom is that governing bodies don't support tax increases in election years. Could 2018 be an exception?
At this juncture, 11 months away from the May primary elections for county mayor and county commissioners, only District 2 Commissioner Jim Fields has declared he won't run again. This far out, Coppinger and the rest of the commissioners don't appear in danger of losing their seats.
Several commissioners, perhaps Randy Fairbanks in District 1 (in his first term), Greg Martin in District 3 (who won a special election for his seat) and Tim Boyd in District 8 (takes controversial stands), could face primary challenges but are likely to have the upper hand in each of the races.
A year from now, when Coppinger presents his fiscal 2019 budget, he and the re-nominated commissioners likely will be seen as shoo-ins for the general election in August. Unless something unforeseen happens, the commission is not likely to vary from a split of seven Republicans and two Democrats.
Thus, with a new schools superintendent in place for the better part of a year (and we hope leading a turnaround in the district and bolstering community confidence in public schools), might the mayor then propose and at least five commissioners go along with a general property tax increase or a property tax increase geared to a new jail and schools or a tax increase of some kind (property? wheel? special local option sales tax?) for schools?
It's relatively easy for Coppinger to defend the no-tax-increase budget this year. Nobody wants their taxes raised, and county residents do want to see their schools show measurable improvement.
A year from now, though, the wall cracks at CSLA will be a little bit bigger, the school district's general maintenance list will be a little big longer and a new jail will be an even more pressing need.
The timing will be too late for heroes but not too late to take action.