How are school taxes collected?

Question

I am writing a huge paper for my government class in which I have to come up with a public school system reform that promotes diversity without busing, school of choice, vouchers, or charter schools. I also have to reform the curriculum to a nationwide standard....

In any event, I need to know how school taxes are collected district by district. Does it vary by state/local government/muncipality? Is it a progressive or flat rate tax?


Thanks

For those wondering, I live in Michigan, but I have to reform the public school system on a national basis. Eventually, I will probably post the entire 30 pg reform on YA a few weeks before it is due so that I can get all of the criticism possible.

Thanks a lot.

chaseunchase:

at this point, I'm basically designing a radical system. Each county across the US will become an individual school district. It will be up to the county school board to determine the tax amount for that district, but the tax must be flat rate (do you see issues with this) and cannot be a sales tax, for example, in which the revenues may vary.

But overall, my ideas are pretty radical at this point, and are very early in their stages of development.

bostonian. You bring up a good point. And may I also mention that the school district will be responsbile for only x% of its funds. The state will supplement these taxes with an aditional 35% of the previous year's cost per-pupil for each student within the district. The federal government will do the same, but at only 15% of the national average of the previous year's per-pupil cost.

Again, please give it all of the criticism that you've got...this is a really important project to me even though it is only worth 100 pts.

Answer 1

School taxes are universally ad-valorem property taxes, meaning that they are based upon the taxable value of the property.

All property within the tax district is subject to property taxes except property owned by qualified religious organizations and sometimes registered non-profit entities.

Tax districts may grant exemptions for periods of time to attract new business to the district..The rationale is that businesses bring in jobs. Jobs mean more people owning property or living in taxed property.

The mechanics of sending out the billing statements varies from one tax district to the next, but generally the property owner gets a bill once or sometimes twice a year and pays it by the due date.

Property taxes are universally regressive flat taxes and are assesed without regard for the ability of the owner to pay the bill. Some districts do grant small exemptions for a homestead or for retirees though the individual impact is usually minimal. A large amount of exemptions in a district will usually trigger a rate increase, thereby negating much of the value of the exemption.

Since property taxes are based upon the value of the property within the district, they are inherently unfair when it comes to funding for shools in poorer districts. Even a county-wide assessment will NOT fix this imbalance. Even state-wide assessments aren't balanced when you compare a state like Mississippi with one like New York or California.

The only realistic way to level the playing field at all would be a national funding system that allocates funds for school districts based upon local student population, adjusted for the cost of provisioning educational services at the local level. Don't look for that anytime soon, however.

Answer 2

School taxes are part of your property taxes in most parts of the US at least in part if not in full. Additionally there is funding in other forms such as state budgets (which would come from income taxes in that state) or other concepts like Lottery money, etc. Give us your state and we'll tell you more. What that means in practical terms is that the local municipalities collect it the way they collect all real estate taxes.

If you have a mortgage on the property taxes and insurance are paid to your mortgage company as part of your mortgage payment and they mortgage company pays the municipality directly (you see the statements to verify but I don't think it is ever a problem as the mortgage company has a serious interest in making sure they don't take the property for back-taxes.)

If you own the property outright, the town or county will send you a bill which you pay each year. If you fail to pay they will place a lien on the property and eventually sell it off via auction to collect. This is why you will often see ads for Sheriff's sales, etc.

It is a progressive tax in that it is calculated mostly by the value of your property not by your income, number of family members, etc. Many older residents in some areas are resentful of having to pay 1000s of dollars for a system to educate they don't use.

Keep posting other questions, and there may be additional help available for you on some possible scenarios for your topic.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

It definitely varies by state. In Ohio where I live, some schools have an Income Tax, which is deducted from your paycheck, and then the rest of the funding is paid by homeowners only, via property taxes on their home and land, paid to the County Auditor. Other states vary widely- I believe that Indiana does a lot of their funding by the cost of their license plates- the more expensive the car, the more you pay for your plates, which then goes to the schools. Both of these cases are progressive- people with more expensive houses pay more, people with more expensive cars pay more, etc.

Answer 4

Funding for schools are found from:
*Mainly property taxes (progressive)
*Also from state funding (collected from many sources)
*Minimally from the Federal Government (many sources)

State funding is usually higher for poorer schools, but the funding makes up only about maybe 20% of school funding. Federal funding is the same per person. Property taxes are the wild card, and the rate depends on the quality of schools, and on the value and number of properties in the district.

I don't know if you are looking for ideas for your project, but you can try: inclusive after school activities, introducing many advanced classes, and also adding references to different cultures everywhere possible.

Answer 5

School taxes are collected differently in each state.

In NY (where I live) school taxes are collected based upon property assessments within the school district. The NYS tax system is pretty biased since wealthier school districts get more tax funding than poorer inner-city school districts due to this type of property assessment taxation.

I hope this helps.

Answer 6

Varies.

For example, around here, school taxes come out of "property taxes" which are billed, on a twice-yearly basis. The amount of the tax is based on the value of your property. Some, people with expensive houses pay more than people who rent.