Grayson is committed to education

The Grayson County Board of Supervisors feels it is important to communicate and inform citizens on important issues, and from time to time to provide relevant facts that impact or have potential to impact taxpayers of Grayson County.

The board does not wish to perpetuate any back-and-forth regarding school funding, nor interject any opinion about fellow elected officials.

We all serve an important role and the board has been, and will continue to be, a committed partner to education.

One of many examples of the supervisors’ commitment to education is through the appropriation of $23.001 million to the school board in fiscal year 2009 for education, with $4.652 million coming directly from the county’s general fund.

This equated to 99 percent of the county’s total real estate tax revenues. In addition to the annual allocation, the board has provided the school system with an additional $16.3 million for school facilities improvements.

The total debt impact is approximately $18 million, not including long-term interest. Annual debt payment for the school improvements would be approximately $1.5 million per year.

The annual payment to service the loans translates into 10 cents on real estate tax levy. For the upcoming fiscal year, the county anticipates spending well in excess of the county’s total current real estate revenues on education and education-related debt service.

The substantial funding the supervisors appropriate to the schools, along with what federal and state governments provide, is based on a formula derived by average daily membership.

The Grayson County School System is provided these monies consistent with this formula implemented by the state for jurisdictions.

The supervisors have minimal input into how the millions of dollars are spent by the school board each year. Thus, the supervisors do not set priorities of the school system, nor do they micromanage their spending.

With a fundamental disconnect with management of school construction and the overall management of the project’s budget, the county is now faced with correcting deficiencies and righting the ship.

What this means to our taxpayers is not exactly known at this time, but we can assure them that we are committed to both the education of our children and to the well being of the Grayson County taxpayer.

Further increases in school funding and an additional increase in construction costs for school facilities improvements would realistically translate into a significant tax increase.

It is for these reasons that the board of supervisors has attempted to apply fiscal prudence in controlling the escalating cost of the school facilities improvement projects.