Lake County School District's Self-Inflicted Money Woes - from "Citizens for Better Government" aka "Right Side of the Lake" blog

Lake County School District's Self-Inflicted Money Woes
This article about Lake County School District impact fees is from a blog run by Don Magruder, who runs Romac Lumber in Leesburg. So they and their customers would benefit from reduced impact fees. However, many points are correct, but notice that this article provides no solutions to offset any reductions in impact fees. And, yes, the School District is inefficient, doesn’t track production measurements like a business would, so they make arbitrary decisions without measuring always reporting the true results later on. They also suffer with limited sources of income to build schools. But, they ARE required to provide space for new students from growth, and impact fees is a way to do that. What do you think? Leave a comment. Vance Jochim If the article below is hard to read, go to THIS webpage to read it.  
From: Citizens For Better Government [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Citizens For Better Government
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2016 3:33 PM
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Subject: Lake County School District's Self-Inflicted Money Woes

 

The Right Side of the Lake ~ September 13, 2016Is this email not displaying correctly?
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Bill Mathias and the School Board Should Accept Responsibility for Financial Mess If you listen to Lake County School Board Chairman Bill Mathias, the taxpayers in Lake County are not paying enough toward education and that all of the Lake County School District’s problems are because of growth. Goodness! It’s time to put the facts on the table. 
 
First and foremost, the Lake County School Board has made horrible decisions with the construction of new schools—from outlandish upgrades, poor value engineering, and horrendous land deals. Plus they added student stations where none were needed. Instead of putting resources to teachers and supplies they have invested in overpriced building projects by out-of-county contractors who gave huge donations to former board members. The district is strangling on a debt load that was $368.2 million in June 2015. The amount they are paying in debt service in one year alone could build a couple of schools.
 
Here is a list of the revenues received by the Lake County School District: Because of an improving economy and growth, estimated taxable values for the district is expected to be 6.1 percent better. That is a huge increase in money without doing anything. The total school tax millage rate is 7.197 per mil and that includes a 1.50 mil for capital outlays.Last year, School Board Chairman Bill Mathias worked with Lake County Commission Chairman Jimmy Conner in shaking down vendors and forcing a special $440,000 election on the Infrastructure Sales Surtax Referendum (Penny Sales Tax). He claimed the one-third cent portion of the tax could fix ailing schools. In fact, the taxpayers were told that was the problem solver for the district to fix schools.Lake County has one of the highest school impact fees in the state and nation, with a single-family residence costing $9,324; a mobile home costing $5,856; and, an apartment costing $8,045—this is the reason why rents are so high in Lake County.Plus they get millions in state and federal regular funding as well as money through special grants.To put Lake County’s taxes and impact fees into perspective, simply look at neighboring Sumter and Marion Counties. Neither Sumter nor Marion County School Districts receive any part of their county’s Penny Sales Tax revenues.Neither Sumter nor Marion County School Districts charge school impact fees.School property tax millage rates are lower in Sumter County by 18.7 percent.The millage rate in Marion County is less than 1 mil higher than Lake County and that is because the people of Marion County voted for a 1 mil school tax to pay for school improvements.What makes no sense about the money issue ailing the Lake County School District is that the heavy retirement mix in the county should make the district flush with money. According to the United States 2015 Census, 26.1 percent of Lake County’s population was over 65 years old compared to 13.3 percent nationwide. That’s nearly double that of most areas. There are tens of thousands of seniors who are paying school property taxes in Lake County, who will never utilize Lake County Schools. 
 
The 2,050 homes being constructed in Fruitland Park by The Villages is a cash cow for the Lake County School District, because these retirees will be paying school taxes while having no impact on the system.
 
Lake County doesn’t have a money problem; rather, they have a leadership problem. Sadly, teachers and students are suffering from the gross incompetence of the Lake County School Board.
 
The constant money drumbeat by School Board Chairman Bill Mathias is a distraction from the real issue. Since Mathias has joined the Lake County School Board, the Lake County School District’s grade has dropped to a “C”; discipline has broken down at all levels; and, they have been mired in one off-the-wall distraction after another.
 
Money can’t fix bad leadership and terrible decisions. It’s about time School Board Chairman Bill Mathias and the Lake County School Board take responsibility for the mess they have created and stop blaming taxpayers and businesses for not doing enough.
 
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