T/E Wants Your Help to Study New Tax Options

The T/E School Board is staring down the barrel of huge deficits five years from now and they want your help to study new ways of generating tax revenue.

The T/E Board voted Monday night to raise property taxes 3.77 percent. That amounts to about $171 for the average T/E homeowner in the 2011-2012 school year. It's the 2015-2016 school year budget projections that have board members scrambling now to find new sources of money.

The district's number crunches project a budget deficit of $4.2 million in the 2014-2015 school year. That number would balloon to a $22.2 million shortfall if programs are not cut or taxes aren't raised before then.

T/E Property taxes have gone up every year since the 2005-2006 school year. So now the board wants to look into an earned income tax (EIT), essentially a way to tax renters and workers in the district who do not pay property taxes.

According to the application  "this citizen group will study the effects that an earned income tax (EIT) would have on the School District and its residents. Following its study, the Tax Study Group members will present the pros and cons of an EIT to the School Board and the community.

T/E School Board President Karen Cruickshank told Patch on Monday night the panel will meet with the community in September and October.

To apply on line follow this link and then click on the application for the tax study group before tonight's midnight deadline (Wednesday June 15th).