The District Ambassadors explored a timely topic this month - finances. Ongoing discussions about a proposed 10 cent tax increase to fund facilities improvements throughout Carroll County Schools was a large part of the discussion.
Chief Financial Officer Jon Conrad debunked several incorrect statements floating around social media and gave a financial perspective of why some suggestions simply will not work.
Ambassador Deidra Hays asked Conrad to explain how much the district would lose if it lowered the 66.5 cents per $100 assessed valuation tax rate that is currently in place. The key piece to that answer centers around the recallable increase, in this case a proposed 10 cent increase. It’s called a recallable increase because citizens can collect signatures and force it to a public vote, which could reverse (recall) the decision made by the board of education.
“We can’t just reallocate money from the general fund portion of the tax rate into the building fund,” Conrad said. “You don’t get the state match by not passing a recallable nickel. If we just switch money, we’re missing out on free money.”
More importantly, Conrad said it would not be fiscally responsible to make such a change. “I can’t responsibly take that money from the general fund. This is not just a one-year change, it’s for every year,” he said. Bonds are sold for 20-year terms so the money to repay those bonds must be available for 20 years.
Superintendent Casey Jaynes added that reducing the current rate by 12 cents would equate to $1.2 million a year in lost income from the general fund. “That’s the equivalent of 23 starting teachers,” Jaynes said, adding that is not a sustainable loss.
Conrad emphasized that enacting recallable rates is the only way to receive a state-funded match. If Carroll County approved a 10 cent recallable increase, the state match would be $917,744 in the 2025-2026 school year. That would compound over 20 years, leaving the district with a bonding potential of $37 million.
“The only way you get to $37 million is the state matching funds. The only way you get the matching funds is to do a recallable nickel,” Conrad said.
Carroll County is one of 44 districts in the Commonwealth that have only one nickel, which was required by state law in the 1990’s.
“We have to look forward to the future of our families,” Ambassador Linda Davis said. “I have grandkids growing up and I hope they stay here like my kids did.”
Superintendent Jaynes emphasized that facilities improvement is an investment in Carroll County’s children and the community as a whole. “If we don’t do something different, your grandchildren will leave,” he said. “The whole point of this is to keep people here and attract people who want to work here and live here.”
Conrad’s presentation can be viewed with this link. Finance Ambassador Presentation