business backgrounder | education & workforce
“No one believes there are the votes in the Legislature for $3 billion in new money, particularly solely from property taxes, to
address this issue,” Hunter said. “But, what if we add something else to the mix; we raise property tax a bit and add a new capital
gains tax to balance it out? Now it’s not hitting homeowners as hard. There may be a mix that works better as we rearrange
property taxes.”
Using other forms of taxes, such as state sales, a new tax or other tax sources, to pay for schools is perfectly fine, Peterson
explained.
The caveat, he said, is that the funding source must be “stable and reliable” to meet the court’s mandate.
Dammeier believes a resolution can be found without new taxes.
“The proposal I put forward takes the local property tax down because we would bring the salary costs now at the local level
back to the state,” Dammeier said. It's a balance, or “trueing up,” as he called it, of the differing school districts’ levy capacity
around the state.
“It will take us a while to get this piece done,” Hunter acknowledged. “Phase two of McCleary is levy reform and whatever
we decide must be phased in all at once to have it in place by 2018.”
The House Appropriations Committee will begin meeting in September to come up with a plan this fall to address levy reform
in 2016.
Whatever happens, the consensus is that any levy reform plan presented to the
Legislature must be a bipartisan House and Senate effort and be vetted by the public
at open committee hearings throughout the fall so a plan is sketched out prior to the
Sen. Bruce Dammeier Levy Reform Bill
start of the 2016 session.
bit.ly/DammeierLevyReformBill
“We can’t be perfect, but we can balance out a statewide solution with a thoughtful
approach,” Hunter said.
Rep. Ross Hunter Levy Swap Bill
Meanwhile, with fines adding up, the court is watching and weighing the next
bit.ly/HunterLevySwapBill
actions of the Legislature this fall, if any, and what may be ahead for levy reform in
the 2016 legislative session.
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