Joe Max Higgins surveyed the audience that had gathered at the Nissan Auditorium on the MUW campus. He was not happy with the turnout of about 50 or so Golden Triangle Development LINK Trust and Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce members who had come to the event.
Besieged with phone calls, the LINK’s CEO put together the forum to discuss a matter of vital importance to its members: the threat of a 6.1 mill increase in taxes needed to support the Columbus Municipal School District’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget.
Ever since Columbus Mayor Robert Smith mentioned it during the June 21 city council meeting, the possible tax increase has been the hottest topic in town.
CMSD Superintendent Philip Hickman, district business manager Tammie Holmes and Lowndes County Tax Assessor/Collector Greg Andrews laid out the matter for those in attendance and fielded questions in the two-hour session.
What figured to be a torch-and-pitchfork uprising turned out to be, for the most part, a calm review of the grim realities of not only the district’s finances, but the health of the city itself. The picture they painted is not rosy.
CMSD is asking for $1.2 million more than it did in last year’s budget, but Hickman said that increase will be covered by dipping into district’s reserve funds.
Both Hickman and Andrews agreed that using reserve funds is pretty much a one-time fix. A significant tax increase is inevitable, at some point, both agreed.
Hickman, for his part, was quick to point out the district is paying for the profligacy of his predecessors.
While casting blame, he pointed his finger at the city, noting it did not return to the taxpayer all of the $869K the district relinquished in FY 2016.
That may be true, but it is a problem Hickman now owns, and rather than finger pointing, it would have been comforting to see the beginnings of a plan to address the problem.
Higgins, who had opened the meeting with a few salty comments about the turnout, ended it on much the same note.
“With apathy,” he said, “you get what you get. And, deserve what you get.”
He is right, of course.
It is likely the people who did gather at Nissan Auditorium on Tuesday morning learned more in two hours about the how our schools are funded than most people will ever bother to learn. That, as much as anything, is a function of apathy, too.
The CMSD holds monthly board meetings, yet attendance is scant, maybe a couple of dozen people show up. These meetings are great opportunities for citizens to learn about what’s happening in our schools, to ask questions and hold district officials accountable by their mere presence, if nothing else.
The district’s decision to use reserve funds to avoid a tax increase delays the inevitable.
The tax increase they avoided this year seems likely to be unavoidable next year, barring a dramatic turn of events.
That gives us a year to consider this crisis, develop a strategy to deal with it and set a course for the future.
If that means our citizens suddenly realize the gravity of the situation and the implications it has for not only the future of our schools, but the entire city, perhaps this is the wake-up call we have needed.
An informed, engaged citizenry is a powerful force, after all. It is also an essential component to a vibrant, growing community.
There may well be things we cannot afford as we look to the future.
But the thing we can least afford now is apathy.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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