What is the value of $106 to the average property owner in Hamilton County?
Will it buy a new roof? Absolutely not. Will it buy a new lawnmower? Hardly. A small, cheap rug? Maybe. Three or four bags of dog food? Sure.
But here's what it could buy if our county had any real leaders:
Coupled with $106 from the rest of the county's homeowners, that tidy sum added to the yearly property tax of a $158,000 home (the median in Hamilton County) could buy art teachers, a variety of other new teaching positions, updates to school technology and robotics programs and other things that fill out a list of $24 million in unmet school needs identified by the Hamilton County Board of Education.
What homeowner in our county wouldn't forego a new rug in the hallway to help a few third-graders read on their grade-level, or buy a couple of robotics kits for a struggling school, or provide a computer tablet for a middle-schooler?
It's all doable - if only our Hamilton County commissioners had backbones.
But they don't.
In fact, they didn't even have the spine to simply delay their vote on a budget that glaringly lacked this tax increase or any other new funding enhancement for schools.
One commissioner, Tim Boyd, did make a motion at Wednesday's meeting to delay the budget vote for 30 days, but the motion died for lack of a second - even a second from Commissioner Joe Graham who suggested such a delay just weeks before. Really, why wait - after all they've had maybe three joint discussions with school board members about education needs in about a year and a half. They don't need any more time to hear plans and suggestions - even from our brand new schools superintendent.
Instead, with 150 school supporters packed in the Hamilton County Commission meeting room to watch, the panel quickly voted 8-1 to approve Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger's $691.5 million county budget - that same budget that includes no way to fund a glaring $24 million in additional needs. Boyd cast the lone dissenting vote.
Let's be clear. Schools are getting about $8 million more than last year, just by virtue of growth in the county's property rolls and sales tax. That growth money will give teachers a 3 percent raise, basically keeping them even with inflation, but it will not meet the school system's other needs. Funding for those unmet needs would require a 26.7 cent property tax increase - the equivalent of that magic extra $106 a year that we've been talking about.
But the county leaders we elected seem incapable of thinking of our children, or what pittance that $106 might buy in a $158,000 home. They appear to think only of themselves, and their next election bids, and they blame it on us - their constituents. They say we don't support and can't afford a tax increase, even for schools.
Most Hamilton County homeowners, however, can work out some simple math equations.
Almost all of us can count on our fingers and toes to discern that $12 a month is more valuable to our county coffers if it makes ready just one more high school graduate to land a $35,000 manufacturing job. That graduate will pay income tax, buy a home, pay property tax, buy a rug (the one we left on the shelf) and pay close to $10 in sales tax for that rug. Our $106 property tax addition just multiplied several times over.
Each one of us can understand that an additional $106 a year in property tax would cost us 29 cents a day - a bubble-gum ball.
But not our county leaders.
Instead, they invoked our names to once again say no to generations of Hamilton County public school students who struggle to make the grade here with the highest percentage of least-effective and lowest-paid teachers among large urban districts in the state.
After the meeting, our spineless commissioners slid off the dais and squirmed over to shake the hand of our new schools superintendent.
"I look very forward to hearing your wisdom and insight on funding and how to address some of our challenges," said Commissioner Sabrena Smedley.
"We look forward to doing anything we can to help you," said Commissioner Randy Fairbanks.
Funny. They'd just had that chance and chose to ignore it.
Long-time educator Franklin McCallie called them out: "Let's not just say to our new superintendent and school board 'we're going to support you with anything you need' unless we mean it."
Commissioner Greg Beck told McCallie the commissioners need courage. "Pour it on us," he said, noting his willingness to raise taxes. Funny, he'd just voted for a budget without a tax increase.
Last month, a group of prominent business leaders compiled and released a report detailing strategies the county and school district should implement to bring long-term savings and boost student outcomes. One of the recommendations was that the county establish a new tax dedicated to schools infrastructure, tech and innovation.
Funny, that got no mention Wednesday.
UnifiEd, a local education advocacy nonprofit, rallied much of the crowd that packed Wednesday's meeting. The group for months has been calling on the county to prioritize public school funding and recently motivated more than 2,100 Hamilton County residents to write letters voicing support for increased revenue.
Funny, Wednesday on the commission dais, the letters must have been unopened.
Our county mayor and county commissioners seemed to have done all the homework they thought was needed.
They'd determined the value of a potential re-election vote - $106.