Try, Try Again (To Raise Taxes)
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 By Marc KilmerIt seems some government officials can’t take “no” for an answer. Several school districts in the Cincinnati area are seeking voter approval to raise taxes after being rebuffed in the recent past. Two districts’ pleas have been rejected three times, another district’s requests have been voted down twice.
As in the past, school district officials say there will be dire consequences if the levies fail. Of course, these levies failed in the past and it still seems these districts have managed to keep their doors open.
These discricts will certainly have less revenue than school district officials desire. The threat to stop sports programs or shut down clubs if taxes aren’t raised is a reaction to poor planning in the past. As I wrote about here, on the state level much of the budget problem can be attributed to the growth in size of state government employment as well as the increase in pay to state workers. While I haven’t crunched the numbers, I suspect something similar is going on in these school districts.
The fiscal problems being experienced there should serve as an incentive for the districts to look at their hiring practices, how much they pay employees, and how much employees contribute to their pensions and health care. Real savings could be found in these areas, I imagine. A little foresight could prevent a repeat of these troubles during the next recession.
Tags: Education
