They gathered to talk about school facilities – where new schools should be built and when.
But in the first formal gathering of Hamilton County commissioners and school board members in nearly three years, it didn’t take long for talks to narrow in on funding and taxes.
Some school officials say it’s time to talk about a countywide tax increase to keep up with the school district’s immense educational and facility needs. The district has a list of deferred maintenance projects that tops $200 million, and another list lays out $200 million in needed new school construction.
At the joint meeting last week, school leaders presented their whittled-down list of the next six school construction projects they’d like to see completed.
“All of us want something new, but we don’t have a way of paying for it,” said school board member George Ricks. “It’s going to have to be a tax increase one day. All of us are going to have to face that one day.”
The County Commission funds the school system, and school officials say they haven’t seen an increase in operating funding since 2006, though the system has received automatic increases from property tax growth. Of course, new schools can be built without a tax increase. County government routinely issues bonds to pay for new schools. As old debt is paid off, new loans are taken out to fund new schools.
County Commissioner Warren Mackey, chairman of the Education Committee, has questioned whether new buildings are needed. There is unused space in several urban schools, though enrollment is growing in suburban areas like Ooltewah. Mackey criticized the school system’s list of six projects for not including any new building projects in poorer areas like his district.
Proposed School Facility Priority List
An elementary school to replace Ganns Middle Valley Elementary and Falling Water Elementary; a replacement and expansion of Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts; additions to Sale Creek Middle-High and Nolan and Wolftever Creek elementaries; and a new middle school in the East Hamilton area.