Published: November 13, 2008 02:11 pm      

State steps in to get Clark County back on track with taxes

School officials’ concerns prompt intervention

State finance officials descended on Clark County on Wednesday to help sort out the financial crunch local school corporations find themselves in because of the county’s delay in issuing property tax bills to residents.

The visit from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance came after the agency received a letter from local school superintendents expressing their concerns over the issue. Enclosed with their letter, superintendents included a Sept. 7 article that appeared in The Evening News regarding the amount of money school corporations are paying in interest on loans — while at the same time not collecting tax dollars or the interest that could be earned from that money — because of the county’s delay in sending out property tax bills.

The three school corporations in Clark County have borrowed more than $200 million in the last five to seven years. Of that, they have paid out more than $3.5 million in interest.

More than losing money in interest, Clarksville Community School Corp. Superintendent Steve Fisher said his corporation is also missing out on interest that could have been made if the corporation received its tax money from the county on time and those funds were in the bank earning interest.

“I think the real shame of this is that the taxpayers should know that we are spending a lot of money on interest,” Fisher said in a previous interview with The Evening News, adding that the money lost could have gone toward hiring more teachers, buying textbooks and more. “To me, that’s dollars coming out of the taxpayers’ pockets.”

“Taxes go up to pay for the interest on the money we have to borrow,” said Monty Schneider, superintendent of West Clark Community School Corp. “That’s a lose-lose situation for everyone.”

Though Clark County isn’t the only one late in handing out tax bills, the county is more than just a little behind. According to Mary Jane Michalak, director of communications for the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, the county’s latest ratio study was submitted in June — nearly one year late.

So, officials from the DLGF came to Clark County on Wednesday to help sort out the issues with county officials — including the assessor, auditor and school officials.

Cheryl Musgrave, commissioner of the DLGF, asked each person involved in the process what was keeping them behind and what’s needed to get back on track.

Musgrave said all of the involved parties need to come together to develop a timeline, set it in stone and make sure it’s accomplished.

“Until you’re all on the same page and everyone knows what needs to be done when, your chances of complete success are diminished,” Musgrave said.

She said the groups need to consider sharing staff to help get the job done.

Musgrave recommended all the groups — including the schools, Clark County Commissioners and councilmen — meet every week to work on a timeline.

Clark County Assessor Vicky Kent Haire recommended meeting every other week before the commissioners’ meeting. The people in attendance agreed on 3 p.m. to be the meeting time. The first meeting will be today.

“The one major theme is that we all have to work together to achieve a solution to this on-going problem,” Fisher said. “If we don’t all join forces, we will never get back on track.”

“I’m convinced they are doing the best they can,” Schneider said of the county officials. “I think [Wednesday’s] meeting was all about communication, letting them know and the state know about our concerns and the local office holders seem very willing to meet those guidelines [recommended by the state].”

The changes can’t come quick enough for schools, though, who are already looking to borrow money for their upcoming budgets. One person with Greater Clark County Schools said he may have to look for another lending institution because the one the corporation uses is refusing to loan out more money to those who don’t also deposit at the bank.

Schneider said in an attempt to keep taxes down, West Clark puts projects on hold until the funds are paid to the corporation by the county. That means delays in getting newer computers for students and more.

Kent Haire said money is on the way. She said tax bills were sent out Wednesday and schools will soon receive two installments of funding — one in December and the other in February.

That money, however, is for 2008. Those bills were due to be out in May, a statutory date set by the DLGF.

Fisher said he hopes these meetings will put everything back on schedule, and the cycle of late tax bills is broken.

“The snowball has to stop at some point and I truly hope this meeting will cause that to happen,” he said.



Read it for yourself

• To read the article that was sent to the DLGF, type in the title “Clark County school corporations forced to pay on bonds until county gives out funds” in the search box.