Oppose House Bill 133 and Limits on Local Revenue for Education

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House Bill 133 is another bad deal for education.  It unfairly targets and would place limits on the ability of local boards of education to raise local funds for education. This is especially damaging at a time when the state has failed to keep the promise of fully supporting public
education funding.  

Since 2008 an increasing burden of education funding has fallen to the local level due to diminished state support.  For example, according to the Council for Better Education in the western Kentucky area the burden of local revenue has shifted in Bowling Green from 39 percent in 2008 to 47 percent in 2020, in Daviess County the shift of local funding was from 35 to 54 percent.  House bill 133 would deliver a double whammy by limiting the ability of local taxing authorities to make up for waning state support.  

The current statute provides a reasonable process for communities to respond to tax levy proposals by local boards of education. The petition, in order to be certified, requires signatures of 10 percent of the registered voters who voted in the last presidential election.

This proposal, unfairly targets local boards of education, making them the only taxing authority subject to these rules.

This proposal would allow a relatively small portion of a community to hijack the process and cause communities the expense of a referendum regardless of the level of community support. This could end up costing the taxpayers an unnecessary expense with the cost of the voting process, much less the campaigning costs by both sides of the issue.

This bill appears to be in response to the Jefferson County Board of Education passing a facility nickel. Since Jefferson County Public Schools has passed its nickel for facilities, this would not impact that community for many years. This appears to be a swipe back at the Jefferson County Board of Education which is not a good reason to enact statewide policy.

The General Assembly created the impetus for increased local funding by not adequately supporting SEEK over the past decade.  The best way to limit increases in local taxes for education is to fulfill the state commitment to public education by adequately funding SEEK. 

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