CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A possible property tax hike has been a recurring topic for the Bradley County Commission as it searches for ways to fund a long-proposed overhaul of Lake Forest Middle School.
The makeover plan calls for replacing nearly a dozen classroom pods with a central academic building.
“About the only option we have remaining is the consideration of a property tax increase or something else unless the good Lord looks down upon us and performs a miracle,” Commissioner Thomas Crye said.
The commission recently reaffirmed a commitment made in 2013 to put up to $12 million toward the Lake Forest rebuild effort in 2016-17 “as funds become available.”
“You all have gone above and beyond, trying to locate funds,” school board Vice Chairman Charlie Rose said.
The recent contract buyout of former Bradley County Schools Superintendent Johnny McDaniel and a failed attempt to increase and reconfigure the county’s lodging tax have “crippled the Lake Forest Middle School project,” said Commissioner Mark Hall, chairman of the Bradley County Education Committee.
A proposed amendment to the private act governing the county’s lodging tax, which would have increased the rate from 5 percent to 7 percent and allocated an estimated $300,000 annually to education debt service, never made it to the floor of the Tennessee General Assembly for a vote.
Legislators cited concerns over using lodging tax revenues to directly fund educational capital efforts; historically, those revenues fund initiatives associated with tourism and economic development.
Hall said the total cost of buying out the former school superintendent’s contract is not known yet, but it could be as high as $300,000. That’s money that might have helped Lake Forest, he said.
According to McDaniel’s buyout agreement, he will continue to receive a salary exceeding $9,000 per month — plus benefits — until his contract ends on June 30, 2016, or until he finds comparable employment.
Interim superintendent Scott Humberd’s salary has been temporarily increased to be comparable to that of the former superintendent.
Bradley County actually will have to borrow $18 million when it funds its $12 million commitment to Lake Forest, which has been estimated to require between $1.1 million and $1.3 million in annual debt service.
According to a longstanding agreement between Bradley County and Cleveland, the county must raise $1 for the city school system for every $2 it raises for the county school system. The agreement’s formula is driven by the relative number of students in the two school systems.
The Bradley County Education Committee has requested that the county board of education provide updated figures for the Lake Forest project and to determine if the campus property is still suitable, citing drainage concerns.
The project figures originally were presented in 2011.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.