No tax hike for schools, but for a Falcons stadium? Sure thing!
Facing a financial crisis, Fulton County schools may soon have to lay off 480 teachers. The DeKalb County district is planning to close a dozen schools. Schools in Gwinnett County face a loss of at least $62 million in state funds in fiscal 2011, a figure likely to climb as state revenues plummet. That would mean across-the-board pay cuts for all Gwinnett school employees.
Despite that dismal outlook, state legislative leaders continue to balk at targeted tax increases that could soften the financial blow to public schools. In a discussion Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle repeated his insistence that the state’s budget crisis would be handled by cutting spending, not by tax increases. Georgia’s status as a low-tax state must be preserved, he said, because that status is what makes the state attractive to businesses and newcomers.
Leaders of the Georgia House have made similar statements. Yet just a day earlier, the state House quietly voted to extend a 7 percent tax on hotel and motel bills that would help pay for a new Falcons stadium. The current tax, which was used to build the Georgia Dome, expires in 2020; HB 903 would allow imposition of new hotel-motel tax running from 2020 to 2050 to build a replacement Falcons stadium downtown.
The vote in favor of the new tax was overwhelming, 151-13. And as Tom Crawford of Capitol Impact points out, 34 of those voting in favor of the bill have signed pledges never to support a new tax.
But as the rhetoric goes, it’s all about priorities. We spend on those things that are important.
According to Cagle, cutting spending severely in this downturn is going to put the state in a good position to prosper once the economy recovers. We can then invest in those things that bring growth, such as the Port of Savannah, Hartsfield-Jackson airport, our research universities and transportation infrastructure, he said.
But what about Georgia’s human infrastructure, I asked. Teacher layoffs, furloughs, school closings, overcrowded classrooms — they’re all going to have an inevitable long-term impact on our ability to educate our children to compete internationally.
(That same day, in fact, an expert in Washington was warning Congress that the American education system was quickly being left behind by other developed countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In Canada, Andreas Schleicher told a Senate subcommittee, 15-year-olds were more than a year ahead of their American counterparts.
“Among O.E.C.D. countries, only New Zealand, Spain, Turkey and Mexico now have lower high school completion rates than the U.S.,” Schleicher warned.)
Cagle acknowledged the impact of spending cuts, but suggested that schools can’t expect to get any help from the state Legislature. Schools will just “have to tweak their model” so they can live within their means, he said.
But hey, I bet that new stadium will really be super-cool, huh?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
265 comments Add your comment
Jenifer
March 11th, 2010
7:53 am
Well of course! I wouldn’t have expected anything else.
Normal
March 11th, 2010
7:55 am
I’ve said it before, but if this were a perfect world, Education would have the status of sports, teachers would be paid what athletes make now.
I wonder if I will even be able to afford to buy a ticket for this new stadium? I know I can’t for the Dome…
Normal
March 11th, 2010
7:57 am
Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It’s like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won’t fatten the dog.
Mark Twain
jt
March 11th, 2010
8:02 am
Part of this money comes from Georgia. I guess we really didn’t need it. From the official DOE webpage.———-
“All told, the president’s budget includes $49.7 billion for the Department of Education’s discretionary programs, an increase of $3.5 billion over fiscal year 2010. The budget also includes $173 billion in loans, grants, tax credits and work-study programs to help students go to college. “
TaxPayer
March 11th, 2010
8:04 am
Clearly this isn’t a “new” tax. You don’t think that a Republican would be misleading, do you!
Paul
March 11th, 2010
8:07 am
I keep hoping for a breakthrough, an example of courage on this topic. Wait… wait… wait….
I lived near Tampa when a new stadium was proposed. For once, voters said ‘no.’ Special interests and politicians (notice how those two go together?) weren’t satisfied. After months and months, at a time when voters were prepared to overwhelmingly support new taxes for schools, the politicians presented with an all-or-nothing, no-way-to-break-it-out ballot item: funds for schools. AND for a new stadium.
They finally got what they wanted.
Dallas was the bright spot. Altho many politicians and folks wanted the stadium (you think conservatives and Christians have influence in this state? It ain’t nothing compared to sports fanatics) the final word was “you want a stadium, owner? Get some investors and build it yourself. (The final nail in the coffin was Mary Kay cosmetics – told the city council if they went forward with their ‘let someone else pay through the hotel tax’ plan they’d move their conventions of hundreds somewhere else, as most attendees were women trying to get a business going and keep it going. City charged ‘blackmail’ MK said ‘tough’ and the plan failed).
So then the voters of Arlington, west of Ft Worth approved it. Paid hundreds of millions of the $1.2 billion cost. And Jerry Jones, owner, still gets to call his team the “Dallas” Cowboys.
It’s a beautiful stadium. Kinda nice the locals dug into their pockets so I’d have a nice place to go see some high school and college games. It’s quite a place – amazing what you can buy for $1.2 billion.
And hey, so what if the kids don’t have proper courses or classrooms or enough teachers? Maybe they can get a college sports scholarship!
Southern Comfort
March 11th, 2010
8:08 am
Jay
You didn’t tell the whole story. The three new cities in north Fulton can opt out of the tax after 2020 as well. I guess the logic is that a new stadium will bring more money to the city. That will then allow for the funding of teachers and such. If money doesn’t come, then it doesn’t take much education to flip burgers and pick up trash.
Gale
March 11th, 2010
8:10 am
“The budget also includes $173 billion in loans, grants, tax credits and work-study programs to help students go to college. “
What good is this if the kids don’t even finish high school? When will they understand the problem has nothing to do with getting a college education?
And what do we need with another stadium anyway? Are they really trying to claim they will save the tax revenue so they will have cash on hand in 2050 to build a new stadium?
Paul
March 11th, 2010
8:10 am
’scuse me, Arlington’s east of Ft Worth. Irony is, they are one of a couple of communities who have consistently refused to take part in the area’s mass transit scheme. “Mass transit means it’ll be possible for ‘those’ people to get here cheaply and work here, then we’ll have apartments built here and then ‘they’ will live here.” I kid you not – those were quotes in the newspaper. Anyway, now they’re trying to work out arrangements with the local transit authorities to…. provide mass transit to and from the stadium. Thbbbpppt.
jt
March 11th, 2010
8:14 am
The stadium tax hike is tragic. The Fed is worse.—————–I guess Washington knows best. Hopefully we will get their expertise on our healthcare too———
DoEd’s first budget was $14 billion and the department employed 450 people. By fiscal 2000, the budget had ballooned to more than $32 billion. The fiscal 2001 budget estimate is more than $43 billion, a 33 percent increase from the previous year. The department now employs more than 4,800 people, a 966 percent increase from 1979, yet DoEd spending for public schools accounts for less than 6 percent of total education spending. There are currently 780 education programs spread throughout 39 federal agencies, costing taxpayers $100 billion annually.
A recent study showed that although DoEd spent $15 billion in 1996 on elementary and secondary education, $3 billion went for purposes other than the needs of school districts. Various audits across the country have estimated that as little as 26 percent of DoEd funds are spent in the classroom. In a 1993 survey of small schools in Ohio, then-Governor George Voinovich (R) noted that as many as 170 federal reports totaling more than 700 pages must be filed by school officials each year. These reports comprise 55 percent of all school district paperwork. The Ohio survey illustrates the excessive spending for administrative activities required by DoEd.
http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=policy_Department_of_Education
TaxPayer
March 11th, 2010
8:15 am
But look at all the jobs that a taxpayer-funded stadium will bring in. You see how how that’s done. Good Georgia Republicans knows how to “present” their case. Accentuate the purported “positive” and ignore any negatives. I’m reminded of Luckovich’s toon du jour with a little twist — zoom out until you can see who’s trickling down on those below.
Southern Comfort
March 11th, 2010
8:15 am
Paul
Tell them to take one of those transit buses or trains, turn it sideways, and ram it where the sun doesn’t shine. You can’t have your cake and eat it too!!
Bubba
March 11th, 2010
8:16 am
I would like to see the Legislature pass a 1-cent increase in the state sales tax that sunsets after 2 years. If the state isn’t out of its revenue funk by then, the Legislature could extend it. I agree that it’s foolish to be spending money on a new stadium while the schools are struggling to stay afloat.
jt
March 11th, 2010
8:16 am
The main culprit is not our local politicians.
The first step in making sure that our children receive an appropriate education is to ensure that the American people are properly educated about the status of today’s education system and the harm being caused by the federal government’s regulations and involvement.
Scout
March 11th, 2010
8:16 am
NEITHER is in order. Tighten those belts !
BTW Jenifer: Has John Edwards been indicted yet?
Normal
March 11th, 2010
8:17 am
Bubba,
That is a good idea!
Gale
March 11th, 2010
8:17 am
Unless I am mistaken, public schools are under the State thumb. How much funding is the DOE allowed to spend in state school systems? I want to know what they are allowed to spend before I get excited about what they don’t spend.
joe matarotz
March 11th, 2010
8:17 am
And whose fault is this? It’s OUR fault. We’re the ones who elected this scum, and we never hold them accountable for anything. WE should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing the government blight to continue. Sorry, but I’m just so disgusted…
Jimmy Carter
March 11th, 2010
8:21 am
Exactly why is the GA Dome not good enough for the Falcons to play in?
Scout
March 11th, 2010
8:21 am
P.S. Excellent submission in today’s vent …………….
“When I went to school I had nuns teaching. They were equipped with a blackboard, a piece of chalk and 60 kids in a classroom. But they had the support of the parents, and they turned out the “Greatest Generation.”
Mick
March 11th, 2010
8:22 am
Normal
March 11th, 2010
8:17 am
Bubba,
That is a good idea!
I second the thought..
TaxPayer
March 11th, 2010
8:24 am
Casey didn’t need no dang schooling and neither should anyone else need it in order to get ahead. I mean, that’s what sports is for (partly that is) — to give folks that cannot afford to buy a good education a career, a career entertaining other folks. I even hear that the pay can be pretty good if you are a good player and do something more than warm a spot on the bench. This is the land of opportunity!
Mick
March 11th, 2010
8:25 am
**“When I went to school I had nuns teaching. They were equipped with a blackboard, a piece of chalk and 60 kids in a classroom. But they had the support of the parents, and they turned out the “Greatest Generation.”*
They also didn’t compete against TV, internet, blackberry’s, iPODs, or any other technological wonder of these times.
Tax target
March 11th, 2010
8:26 am
“Georgia’s status as a low-tax state”?? Guess I’m not familar with other State tax situations. All I can say is we pay approximately $7,000 in Dekalb Co. property taxes, approximately 70+ percent goes to education, yet we are “forced” to send our children to private school for a quality and “safe environment” education. We DON’T NEED A TAX HIKE FOR SCHOOLS!!!
TaxPayer
March 11th, 2010
8:28 am
I think the state should expand the opportunites offered under the Gold Dome in order to raise revenues. Why not sell tickets to some of those events involving some of our esteemed legislators and select persons from that “babe alley”. I’m thinking mud wrestling… followed by mud slinging. It’s a real crowd pleaser.
JohnnyReb
March 11th, 2010
8:30 am
Agree funding a new stadium at this time is lame. However, more money to schools does not equal better education. Missing from the rhetoric is that Obama’s stimulus package pumped dollars to schools but only delayed the enevitable. The slush-fund, aka stimulus, has fallen flat on creating jobs that would produce revenue to help school systems.
Jones
March 11th, 2010
8:30 am
If you don’t want to pay the tax then don’t stay in a hotel in Atlanta. Every city has a tax like this. That is how the cities make money off of tourists.
Scout
March 11th, 2010
8:31 am
I received my “Census” notification letter in the mail yesterday letting me know I would be getting my “Census Form” in about a week. What a waste of paper, etc.
Parts of it were in five different languages …………. the Balkanization of America continues.
Paul
March 11th, 2010
8:32 am
SoCom 8:15
Well, the transit authorities are doing it – but they are charging enough so they return a profit.
Kinda the same thing happened when gas went up so high (when it was considered outrageous and not normal like it is now) several communities who’d opted out of the local sales tax to participate wanted in. The authorities said ’sure, but for the past few years we’ve been building infrastructure. If you’d participated from the start you would have contributed $N. So, if you want in now, here’s the bill – $N.” Several of them paid and joined in.
Dan
March 11th, 2010
8:32 am
JT I am against any federal control of education, but you can’t blame the local problems on federal regulations, that is the same lame excuse used buy the local administrations as an excuse. The Feds only provide about 7% of the funding so they don’t really move the needle.
Doggone/GA
March 11th, 2010
8:32 am
“What a waste of paper, etc.”
I can top that. I got *two* census notifications.
Gale
March 11th, 2010
8:36 am
Sure every city has a hotel tax. But given the state of our budget, applying the revenue to a sports stadium 40 years from now is dumb. We have schools closing, infrastructure crumbling, and talk of laying off firemen and police. Yeah, lets save that money for a new stadium! That’s the ticket!
Southern Comfort
March 11th, 2010
8:36 am
Paul
That’s how it should be done. Kudos to them for doing what’s right.
Paul
March 11th, 2010
8:39 am
Jay
Okay, I need another addition to the “Blog God Banned Words” list (my 8:37). Is it ‘faith’? ‘Baptist’? Or…. ‘Fox’?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
March 11th, 2010
8:39 am
Taxes hikes for teacher’s bloated salaries and benefits, uh, yes!
Normal
March 11th, 2010
8:40 am
When times were going bad in Old Rome, the Emperors would, in order to distract the masses from the bad times, build stadiums and hold gladiator fights. Today it’s football and baseball, but the reasoning is the same, I betcha…
Paul
March 11th, 2010
8:40 am
Doggone/GA
[[I can top that. I got *two* census notifications.]]
One for ‘Doggone’ and one for ‘GA’?
Normal
March 11th, 2010
8:42 am
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
March 11th, 2010
8:39 am
I suppose that’s a point against public education…just sayin’
ken
March 11th, 2010
8:42 am
Taxes fix everything. The mind of a liberal.
LAKE OCONEE EDUCATOR
March 11th, 2010
8:44 am
Cagle is a poor excuse for a leader….BUT BE SO THANKFUL THAT IN 5-7 YEARS IF AND WHEN WE FINALLY GET OUT OF THIS FUNK, THE STATE WILL THEN BE IN GOOD POSITION TO DO BUSINESS…..WHAT CAN WE DO IN THE MEANTIME????? SUFFER, SUFFER, SUFFER….REAL LEADERS WOULD ADD SOME KIND OF 1CENT OR 2 CENT SALES TAX ON TO HELP SOFTEN THE BLOWS….BUT NOT OUR LEADERS, ALL THEY THINK ABOUT IS GETTING RE-ELECTED……
Brad Steel
March 11th, 2010
8:44 am
Georgia prioritizes football over education?
I am sure any GA high school half-wit you meet in the unemployment line will adamantly disagree.
TnGelding
March 11th, 2010
8:45 am
Taxes and fewer layoffs!
http://www.ajc.com/business/new-unemployment-claims-fall-362543.html
Doggone/GA
March 11th, 2010
8:46 am
“One for ‘Doggone’ and one for ‘GA’?”
I guess so!
Gale
March 11th, 2010
8:46 am
I don’t think anyone here would really complain about money going to public schools if we could see real improvement. Not a few percentage points of standardized tests that might just reflect dumbing down or teaching to those tests, but real improvements that showed Georgia students graduating over 90% of students. Kids with no education are clogging the prisons. We won’t see real improvement in the overall situation for two generations. That is a more valuable thing to save for than a new stadium. Educate the people, they educate their children and we don’t need a stadium to “bring in jobs”. People are well able to support themselves in production careers, that may or may not require an advanced degree.
Doggone/GA
March 11th, 2010
8:46 am
Paul, BTW…they were both addressed to “Resident”
jt
March 11th, 2010
8:46 am
Dan
7% is no small cheddar.
And you CAN blame “local problems” on federal regulations. To a certain, and often large, extent.
ItTakesCourage
March 11th, 2010
8:47 am
It takes courage to raise taxes when the situation offers no other choice. NO courage is required to say no or cut taxes. Will some courageous souls please step forward before all is lost?
Paul
March 11th, 2010
8:48 am
Doggone/GA
Wow, you sure have a lot of names.
stands for decibels
March 11th, 2010
8:48 am
Exactly why is the GA Dome not good enough for the Falcons to play in?
Without looking it up, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s about the luxury skyboxes.
Normal
March 11th, 2010
8:48 am
Doggone/GA
March 11th, 2010
8:46 am
Paul, BTW…they were both addressed to “Resident”
You know? That guy really gets around. I get mail for him too, almost every day…