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The Terrebonne Parish School Board will likely present voters in December with a sales-tax referendum to fund pay raises for public school teachers and support staff, multiple board members said last week.
If the teacher-pay proposal adheres to recommendations of the Terrebonne Public Schools Community Task Force, it could equate to pay raises for teachers and support staff totaling $5,000 and $2,000, respectively, via a newly levied half-cent sales tax. Administrators would not see pay bumps under the task force proposal.
“Competitive salaries will help our community retain and attract qualified educators, thereby reducing student-teacher ratio and providing an improved learning environment for our students and a greater opportunity for their academic success,” said Jennifer Armand, representing the task force and summarizing its report.
The task force, jointly created by the school board and the chamber, issued its final report last week, culminating a months-long effort in which business leaders and community volunteers scrutinized the system’s finances in attempt to help diagnose its woes and offer solutions.
A consensus of task force members preferred the use of sales taxes to fund would-be pay hikes. A half-cent tax would raise approximately $12 million per year, which is the rough equivalent of 14 property-tax mills, the report says.
Pay hikes are packaged as a mean to better attract and retain quality educators, an issue highlighted by the fact Terrebonne had 60 teaching vacancies earlier in the 2013-14 school year. Teachers haven’t received a raise on the local level since 2007, the report says.
Terrebonne’s starting teacher salary – $37,909 for a first-time instructor with a bachelor’s degree – ranked 47 of 69 Louisiana school districts, according to state data. The task force’s recommendation would boost Terrebonne teacher pay into the top one-third of the state’s districts, the report says.
Of Terrebonne’s $169.9 million in projected 2013-14 expenditures, 85 percent was allotted for salaries and benefits, according to the report.
State funding to Terrebonne decreased by $9.2 million over five years, coinciding with the state’s mandate that school districts contribute more to retirement systems and the state freezing the per-pupil allotment – historically growing each year – in Minimum Foundation Program funding, the report says.
Tax revenues increased slightly over that period, after dipping first, but revenue from oil-and-gas leases has plummeted since 2005-06.
Overall, in addition to heightened cost burdens, Terrebonne saw a net decrease of $6.2 million in state and local funding and eliminated 500 system employment positions in the past five years. Per-pupil spending, at nearly $9,000 last year, ranks 68th in the state, the report says.
Nine months ago, the chamber and school board were at odds after the board introduced a referendum to increase property-tax collections by 31 mills to fund teacher pay raises, capital improvements, universal preschool and other initiatives. The chamber publicly opposed the measure, saying the plan to spend an additional $25 million in annual revenue lacked details, and the voting public overwhelmingly rejected the proposal.
School board Chairman Roger “Dale” DeHart noted the task force’s priorities aligned with issues the system raised last year.
“I think we broke through a lot of ice between the two entities to where I think they understand, and we understand through the business world why they took the stand that they did,” DeHart said.
Several board members were complimentary of the task force’s efforts, as was the district’s superintendent.
“I went to four of the five meetings, and it was sort of interesting to see the metamorphosis as more information was presented,” L.P. Bordelon said. “A very positive thing came out of this, and frankly, I was surprised.”
“The work you have done I know will produce huge dividends for the children of Terrebonne Parish,” Superintendent Philip Martin said. “This is by no means an end, it’s a beginning of a very worthwhile and long process, and we look forward to working with y’all as we go through it.”
The task force urged the school board to hold public meetings relating to their tax-proposition intentions so the public has the opportunity to weigh in before the proposal is submitted to the Secretary of State.
Officials reached accord at last week’s public meeting, but it’s unclear if the public will support the teacher-pay initiative.
Terrebonne’s sales-tax rate sits today at 9 percent. Comparatively, Lafourche rates range from 8 percent (Thibodaux) to 9.2 percent (south of the Intracoastal Waterway).
Louisiana charges a flat 4-percent sales tax, which the state collects, and local jurisdictions can levy taxes upon themselves. Louisiana’s state rate is moderate compared nationally, but its average local rate (4.89 percent) ranks among the five highest in the nation, boosting Louisiana’s total average rate of 8.89 percent beyond all but Tennessee and Arkansas, according to a 2013 study by the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit national think tank.
Local jurisdictions can impose upon themselves up to 5 percent in sales taxes, according to Louisiana law. Rates beyond that require approval from the Legislature.
Terrebonne, although at 5 percent, could increase its rate by another 1 percent without approval, because half-cent law enforcement district and half-cent levee district rates do not count toward the limit.
Board member Hayes Badeaux said he supports the task force’s recommendation of targeting a sales tax because it’s levied equally on everyone, while property taxes are targeted at property owners.
On property taxes, homeowners see a bit of a break via homestead exemptions compared to business owners, who do not get that break and are required to pay taxes on some of their inventory.
Regardless of who pays, the system needs the money, Badeaux added. “Maybe we asked for too much the first time, but we need it. If it doesn’t pass, we’ll have to survive. That’s what we’re doing, surviving.”
UNIVERSAL PRE-K, CAPITAL PROJECTS LOOM AS ISSUES
The school system, in the process of updating its facilities study and with an eye on a universal pre-kindergarten system, may present additional tax initiatives to voters on the Congressional general election ballot, DeHart said.
“In December, we are definitely going to be on the ballot,” DeHart said. “I’d like to see facilities, teacher salaries and universal pre-k, all three issues (on the December ballot).”
Compared to its stance on teacher pay, the task force was relatively muted regarding facilities and universal pre-k. The latter wasn’t addressed in a list of five recommendations to the board. The body took no stance on facilities other than to say current conditions and projected population shifts should be studied further and a detailed, prioritized action plan be presented.
The system last conducted a facilities-needs study in 2004. It called for $328 million in capital improvements. Roughly $68 million worth of projects from that study are complete or ongoing, according to the task force report.
Thirteen years ago the system let a 9.2-mill tax dedicated to facilities expire without presenting it to voters.
“We can update it, and we will update it,” DeHart said. System staff will determine what changes are necessary and present it to the board for approval, a process that has already begun, the chairman said.
Terrebonne’s pre-kindergarten program has a wait list exceeding 200 pupils, according to the report, and would require an additional $1 million per year to provide the service universally. Approximately 1,100 students are already enrolled.
Aside from increasing teacher pay and revisiting the facilities study, the task force urged the system to increase technology training for teachers and work on increasing instructors’ morale, strive for better communication with the public and participate in a parishwide tax review.
“It is evident to this group of residents that the needs of our community will continue to increase, however, our capacity to fund those needs with local sources may soon reach a perceived ceiling,” the report reads.
Jami Cavalier helps Lisa Park Elementary students with “helping verbs” during class last week. The Terrebonne Parish School Board will likely present a tax referendum to voters in December to fund teacher pay raises, board members said.
