Greenville County school board approves tax hike to fund teacher salaries

Greenville school trustees have approved a tax hike of 5.1 mills to provide pay raises for all teachers, staff and administrators in the district.

The tax increase, which will generate $6.7 million in new revenues for the district, was approved by a vote of 8-4 on Monday.

Voting against the millage increase and the district's 2018-19 budget were trustees Lynda Leventis-Wells, Pat Sudduth, Derek Lewis and Danna Rohleder.

Leventis-Wells said struggling small business owners in Greenville have complained about burdensome school taxes.

"It's the small businesses that are getting drilled," Leventis-Wells said.

Greenville Schools Superintendent Burke Royster responded that schools help local businesses to thrive by providing an educated workforce.

"Ensuring that we have a quality education system has a price tag," Royster said. "We try to be very conservative. Those same businesses benefit from having an educated workforce."

Sudduth said he would have voted for a 3.5 millage increase, but not the full 5.1 mill increase. He said the district could have used some money from the district's reserve fund instead of raising taxes by the full 5.1 mills.

The tax increase will help fund an average pay raise of 3.29 percent for the Greenville school district's 6,000 teachers.

Superintendent Burke Royster said raising teacher salaries is necessary to recruit and retain the best educators during a teacher shortage.

"We're in the Top 5 in the state (in teacher pay) and this will allow us to remain in the Top 5 of the state," Royster said. "We certainly want to be in the top of the state when we're seeking teachers."

Frank Holleman, a Greenville attorney and former United States deputy secretary of education, was the only person to speak during the public comment section of the meeting, offering support for the tax increase for teacher pay raises.

Holleman, whose three children attended Greenville schools, said the quality of local education was closely tied to the community's economic vitality and overall quality of life.

“We think of ourselves justifiably as a great place, but if we’re going to be a great community, we also have to have great schools," Holleman said. "Essential to great schools is having great people in them. We should not only adequately compensate our teaching professionals to whom we entrust the future of our children but we should be the leading place where educational professionals want to be.”

Holleman said raising taxes to support higher teacher salaries "is the right thing to do. Who are we if we’re not willing to pay adequately and honor the people who perform the most important roles in our community?"

While the average teacher pay raise will be 3.29 percent, all other district employees will receive a 2-percent wage increase. The total price tag for the pay increases is $13 million, according to the 2018-19 budget.

The raise for teachers is partially, though not fully, funded by the state.

Health, pensions and school security

New revenues also would help offset increased costs for employees' health, dental and retirement benefits. The cost for those expenses is $7 million.

The district also is having to add $2.4 million for special education personnel to next year's $620 million budget due to state and federal funding cuts, according to district documents. The district has 12,000 special needs students.

In addition, the district will spend $1 million for more school security officers.

Other new expenditures in the 2018-19 budget include money for student growth, the expansion of Rudolph Gordon School into middle grades, and the hiring of a principal in advance of the opening of Fountain Inn High School, according to district documents.

The budget also includes money for criminal background checks for volunteers and four new school safety specialists to monitor and enhance security drills at the district’s more than 100 facilities.

Voting in favor of the tax hike and 2018-19 budget were were board chairwoman Crystal Ball O'Connor, vice chairwoman Debi Bush, and trustees Michelle Goodwin-Calwile, Joy Grayson, Roger Meek, Glenda Morrison-Fair, Chuck Saylors and Lisa Wells.

O'Connor, while supporting the budget and tax increase, said she was disappointed that the new budget did not reduce class sizes.

Rohleder, who opposed the tax increase and budget, expressed concern about inadequate funding for band programs and band instrument repair.

Tax increase impact

Business owners and car owners in Greenville County will be impacted by the tax increase.

Thanks to the General Assembly's tax-relief measure known as Act 388, however, owner-occupied homes will not be affected by the millage increase.

Greenville County Schools officials provided calculations on how the tax increase will impact various business owners and car owners.

Older automobiles, because their value has declined, will be assessed the smallest additional levy.

The owner of a 2006 Toyota Camry will see an annual tax increase of 60 cents annually.

Taxes for a 2006 Honda Accord will rise by 76 cents annually while taxes for a 2006 Ford F-150 will go up by $1.08 yearly.

Here's how taxes for those three automobile models compare to new taxes for 2018 models:

• 2018 Toyota Camry: $8.01 annually.

• 2018 Honda Accord: $9.12 annually.

• 2018 Ford F-150: $9.65 annually.

Business owners will see much larger increases:

• A restaurant valued at $316,404 will see an annual tax increase of $96.71.

• A machine shop valued at $460,830 will see a tax hike of $141.01 annually.

• A pharmacy valued at $602,270 will pay $184.29 more annually.

• A flower shop valued at $649,290 will see its tax levy rise by an annual $198.68.

The district's 2018-19 operating budget is $620,240,000, representing a 4.6 percent increase over last year's budget, according to district documents.

The Greenville County Schools board had the authority to levy up to 15.2 mills to keep pace with population growth and the Consumer Price Index.

Paul Hyde covers education and everything else under the South Carolina sun. Follow Paul on Facebook and Twitter: @PaulHyde7.