Tax Boon Won’t Help Schools

An article on June 29 described the “$13 Million Tax Surprise” that Ventura County school districts received. According to the article, financially strapped cities, schools and the county would receive $13 million more in tax revenues than was expected. The article went on to discuss how the extra funding could be utilized by the county and several cities in the county.

While it is true that this extra funding will benefit city and county governments in Ventura County, school districts will not benefit from this extra tax income. The major source of school district funding comes from a formula called the Revenue Limit. Each K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade) district receives its revenue limit funding as a combination of local property taxes and state funds. When local property tax collections increase, the level of state funding decreases.

The article implies that Ventura County school districts will receive additional funding as a result of these extra tax collections. This is simply not true. For each additional tax dollar received by the school districts, state funding was reduced by a corresponding dollar.

JAMES F.COWAN

Ventura

Cowan is Ventura County superintendent of schools.