Seems a few people in government think that maybe elected School Boards should have the power to levy taxes.
According to the Virginian Pilot, [1] some do and some don’t.
Some people do, like Chesapeake Councilman Rick West, Sufolk School Board Chairman Mike Debranski, VB SB Chairman Dan Edwards and new Norfolk Mayor Ken Alexander.
They seem to feel School Boards would be more accountable for their spending request if they had to raise the taxes to pay for their requests.
No representation without taxation?
Let’s be clear: none of these folks for one second believe that school boards would lower taxes. Power to tax for them inexorably means power to raise taxes.
This debate has been kicking around as long as elected school boards have been. City Councils and Boards of Supervisors have long felt the political pressure of School Boards who submit budgets with huge increases and expect someone else to either raise the money or just not fund the full request.
The argument used to be that School Boards would submit much smaller budgets if they had to make the votes to pay for them.
I doubt it.
Any move to give taxing authority to School Boards would result not in lower spending but more spending and higher taxes, this time by low turnout politicians protected by their teacher association buddies.
If anyone encourages giving a board usually controlled by Democrats the power to tax uncontrollably, scream. Shout. Stop them.
It’s a rotten idea.