PROPOSITION C: SCHOOLS WILL ASK VOTERS TO WAIVE TAX ROLLBACKS

As many as 46 Southeast Missouri school districts will ask voters Oct. 5 to waive the rollback of property taxes granted under Missouri's Proposition C.

The election is part of a rather complicated scenario triggered by passage of Senate Bill 380, Missouri's new funding and education reform act.

The trouble stems from the fact that many school districts in Southeast Missouri have property tax rates well below the new minimum of $2.75 set by Senate Bill 380.

Sikeston Superintendent Robert Buchanan says Southeast Missouri school districts could lose a total of more than $12 million in Proposition C payments if waivers are not approved by voters.

"Taxes will be $2.75 whether they vote yes or no," said Buchanan.

"A yes vote simply means the school district can keep the (Proposition C) money. A no vote means the money goes to the state to be redistributed to districts with higher tax levies."

Under Senate Bill 380, school boards can raise the tax rate to $2.75, but then cannot roll back the rates in order to comply with Proposition C. The rate must remain at or above $2.75.

Buchanan maintains: "Any school district with a tax levy below $2.75 prior to the passage of Senate Bill 380 will be penalized when the board increases the levy to $2.75."

The "penalty" is the loss of the school district's share of Proposition C sales tax money.

Missouri voters approved Proposition C, a 1-cent sales tax collected for education. Half of that 1 cent is used to roll back property taxes.

School districts can't collect the 50 percent of Proposition C money they are used to getting if they don't roll back the property tax levy. They can't roll back the levy because under the new law tax levies must be $2.75 or higher.

However, the law permits school districts to forgo the rollback if voters agree.

School districts with tax rates over $2.75 are not affected and may continue to roll back as usual, as long as the tax rate is not rolled back below $2.75.

For some districts, raising the levy to $2.75 means as much as a $1 tax hike.

Sikeston's school district, with a levy of $1.76, is particularly hard hit. Buchanan said his district could lose nearly $1.2 million dollars in Proposition C payments.

"When it's a million dollars, it gets your attention quickly," Buchanan said.

"We feel it's very significant," Buchanan said. "Especially when that money is spent primarily for salaries and purchasing supplies."

"This change has a very negative impact on school districts from Farmington to the Arkansas border," he said.

"The only way to follow the law and still receive the money is to waive the rollback," Buchanan said.

Voters in four Southeast Missouri school districts approved the waiver at the August election.

School administrators, who are members of the Southeast Missouri Superintendents Association, are mounting a campaign to educate voters throughout the region on the issue.

"What's happening in my district is happening throughout Southeast Missouri," Buchanan said. "The numbers are just a little different."