Rural County schools need increased state funding
Source: timescommunity.com
January 25, 2007
On Jan. 23, Rappahannock County School Superintendent Dr. Robert Chappell spoke to the House of Delegates Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education to support passage of two amendments: Del. Scott Ligamfelter's "Education computation of composite index" bill (HB 1702) and Del. Brad Gilbert's "Cost of Competing Adjustment" bill (HB 135 18h).
Ligamfelter's proposal would require the General Assembly to modify the current Standards of Quality funding formula and calculation of composite index of local ability to pay to incorporate within the real estate indicator of local wealth the land-use taxation value for those properties within a land-use plan.
The current composite index of local ability to pay incorporates the "true value" of real property (rather than any special-use assessed values) weighted 50 percent, with adjusted gross income weighted at 40 percent and taxable retail sales weighted at 10 percent, as indicators of local wealth.
Chappell told the committee he supports the land-use plan.
"By reducing taxes on eligible properties, land use helps to preserve the rural character of the majority of the commonwealth's land and prevent the suburban sprawl that has been creeping across Virginia for years," he said.
Rappahannock County's Local Composite Index is .7463. Approximately 25 percent of the cost of educating Rappahannock's children is covered by the state. The remainder falls on the shoulders of the county's taxpayers.
According to records provided by Rappahannock County Commissioner of the Revenue Beverly Atkins, $579,840,900 - or 27 percent of Rappahannock's 2006 $2,112,509,400 true value of property - is "deferred," and is therefore eligible for reduced taxation under the land-use bill.
If the true value of Rappahannock land used to calculate the LCI for the 2006-2008 biennium were reduced by 27 percent, the county would have an LCI of .6058. Making this same change in the state formula would increase the state's share of the cost of educating Rappahannock's children from 25 percent to 39 percent.
"A colleague told me the General Assembly will never change the LCI formula to reflect land-use values, because it would take funding away from urban and suburban areas that control the majority in the legislature," Chappell said.
"I hope my friend underestimates the sense of fairness on the part of members of the General Assembly," he said.
Chappell said one major difference between Rappahannock and other Northern Virginia localities is the corporate tax base.
"Rappahannock has virtually no corporate tax base to help fund its schools," he said.
Rappahannock County ranks last of the 14 cities and counties in the Northern Virginia region for per-capita taxable retail sales.
"At present we have no industries and no supermarkets in Rappahannock County," Chappell said. "So, I appeal to your sense of fairness. Help rural counties like Rappahannock, Fauquier and Clarke in Northern Virginia and other rural counties across Virginia retain their rural character. By retaining rural acreage through the Land-use program, the commonwealth will remain one of the most beautiful states in the nation."
Another real benefit to including land use in the LCI formula and retaining rural land is that fewer new schools will be built in rural areas, thus saving the localities and the state from future capital expenses for school construction and additional operational expenses, Chappell said.
"As one Rappahannock resident so aptly put it: 'Cows don't ride school buses,' " said the superintendent.
When asked to comment on Ligamfelter's bill, County Administrator John McCarthy said the General Assembly should remember its commitment made several years ago in the Chesapeake Bay Act to increase acreage in scenic easements.
"I would like to point out that our experience in the land-use program is that it is an almost inevitable precursor to the dedication of scenic easements," McCarthy said. "Rappahannock County has the highest percentage of this privately held land under scenic easements of any county in the commonwealth."
The second proposal
Gilbert's bill proposes to add Rappahannock County to the 13 other Northern Virginia localities that receive the "Cost of Competing Adjustment." The first-year phase-in of additional revenue for the county would be $48,000 if approved by the General Assembly.
Chappell said Rappahannock is a Northern Virginia locality and deserves to receive the same COCA received by the other 13 localities.
"As an aggregate, those localities receive more than $40 million annually in this COCA funding that is over-and-above the regular funding provided by the state," Chappell said.
The COCA was established by the General Assembly in the 1980s to help the Northern Virginia localities compete with other jurisdictions in the Washington, D.C., region for teachers, policemen and social workers.
In terms of proximity to the nation's capital, the county seat of Rappahannock is 70 miles from D.C. Other counties receiving COCA, including Spotsylvania, Clarke and Warren, have county seats that are 64 miles or more from D.C.
"If those three counties are in Northern Virginia, Rappahannock County is, too," Chappell said.
Rappahannock's rankings
Rappahannock is ranked number first of the 14 counties in Northern Virginia in per-capita true value of property for the base year 2003 used to compute the LCI for the 2006-08 biennium. Rappahannock ranks seventh of the 14 in per-capita adjusted gross income.
The only economic indicator that sets Rappahannock apart from the rest of Northern Virginia is its lack of a corporate tax base.
According to Sperling's bestplaces.net, Rappahannock ranks 11th of the 14 in cost of living. Chappell said the county would have a higher rank in the Sperling comparisons if the index took "travel to buy groceries" into consideration. Most residents have to travel 30 to 40 miles round trip to go to the grocery store.
According to data provided by the Virginia Education Association, Rappahannock ranks last among the 14 Northern Virginia counties in starting salaries for teachers in the region.
Chappell said Rappahannock's Board of Supervisors and taxpayers have tried to help make up the difference in low state funding to make the county more competitive in teachers' salaries. But when Rappahannock provided a 3.5 percent increase for the current year to try to narrow the gap, the other localities in Northern Virginia provided increases typically in excess of 4 percent. The reason those other counties were able to provide higher salary increases is because they received additional funding through COCA, Chappell said.
