Citizens speak out on tax hike and middle/high school.
Lakeland citizens stayed for nearly three hours at an Aug. 19 town forum to voice their support and their fears about the proposed $50 million combined middle and high school. Officials are looking at a 30-year $0.55 property tax increase to fund the facility, currently called “Lakeland Prep.”
Lakeland School System superintendent Ted Horrell presented the detailed case for the project and the funding, and then an expert on funding large capital projects explained the conservative municipal bond assumptions. Both presentations are online, along with video of the event and a list of frequently asked questions, at http://lakelandk12.org/lakeland-prep/.
Why get in a hurry?
People asked the same thing three years ago when Lakeland residents talked about forming their own school system with local community control, he said.
So what if the city had faltered then? It would be the only municipality in Shelby County without its own school system.
“My guess is you would be able to get a home in Oakwood right now for a lot cheaper than you can get it now,” he said about the posh Lakeland subdivision.
Families are planning ahead now, investing in homes where their children are assured of a quality education, Horrell said.
It comes down to being a competitive and responsible city.
He noted that when Lakeland students attend classes in another district, their funding follows them. Keeping them in Lakeland classrooms means the dollars stay under local control.
Citizens weigh in
Michelle Childs, a Lakeland parent and homeowner, moved from unincorporated Cordova, where she said her property values dropped more than the national average during the Memphis/Shelby County school district consolidation. She is concerned the same thing will happen if Lakeland fails to pass the property tax increase and build Lakeland Prep.
“And so I have concerns about the fact that if the tax rate does not increase, what my property values will be and what my school options will be. So as a parent I’m very concerned, and I really want to see a K through 12 school system for Lakeland, and I hope that you will vote to put in the tax – even though I do not want to pay your tax. But I am very concerned. I am concerned about what the city of Lakeland will look like in a few years if people who have children don’t want to move here anymore, and then, if I wanted to move, who would want to buy my home.”
Paul Vandiver of Lakeland asked if the school board has researched and found other single-school municipal school districts. Horrell said he did some research and did not run across another district that fed into another municipality; instead, they typically feed into the county school system (more than a dozen in Tennessee alone).
If Lakeland Prep is not built, the district would have to default back to Shelby County School to educate Lakeland’s middle and high school students if Arlington Community Schools runs out of room when its current seven-year agreement with Lakeland ends.
If that occurred, Lakeland would not meet the minimum number threshold to keep even Lakeland Elementary in its school system, Horrell said.
Vandiver said investing in Lakeland Prep will ultimately build a stronger Lakeland economy with more sales tax revenue: Having a full K-12 school system would make Lakeland more attractive to families who would bring their money into the local economy, businesses would follow on their heels, creating jobs that attract employees who also will spend in the city.
Horrell responded, “We feel like those are very reasonable assumptions. And we think we’ve got a great example of our neighbors next door.”
He said Arlington has been the second-fastest growing municipality in Tennessee for the past 10 years as people have moved to where the schools are.
Vandiver also believes Lakeland’s elected officials have a strong vision that will keep the city from pursuing growth just for its own sake. He’s been reassured by the city board’s focus on high standards, such as residential building standards for larger lot sizes and brick exteriors with a minimum of aluminum siding.
“I just think that this is one of the most unified things that we can be a part of in Lakeland, in Lakeland’s 37-year history, that we can unite as a city and not be divided and come together for something that’s great,” he said to applause. “And I would hope that everyone would back up this plan.”
Richard Gonzales of Lakeland said he supports the Lakeland Prep project and asked how much consideration was given to reallocating the uses of the existing property taxes and asking for a more modest increase.
Jim Rinehart of Lakeland supports building Lakeland Prep even though he does not have school-age children himself. “I feel there’s an obligation for every community to support the school system.”
Cat Wright asked how many children Lakeland loses to private schools after the fifth grade because of overcrowding in Arlington’s middle school. Horrell said he has researched that question but hasn’t been able to gather complete data.
Wright continued, saying that she made that decision personally for her daughter, but the existence of Lakeland Prep would have made the choice harder.
As a real estate agent with most of her business in Lakeland, she cited home sales data:
- Germantown, with the highest local property tax, has seen 286 home closings to date in 2014; the average sales price for a four-bedroom three-bathroom house is $460,000. The average time on the market (including the closing time, typically 30-45 days) is 68 days.
- Arlington has seen 92 home closings to date with an average sales price of $266,000 and an average 56 days on the market.
- Lakeland had a great summer of home sales, trending its highest to date, she said. The city currently has a property tax of $0.85 and has seen 105 homes closed to date with an average sales price of $345,000 and an average 105 days on the market.
She has done $3.5 million in Lakeland sales in the past nine months. Her buyers’ top questions have one topic: “How are the schools? Tell me about the schools. What do schools look like?”
The city’s educational plans have been persuasive to buyers, she said.
Elaine Fink of Lakeland said low taxes attracted her to Lakeland, but she’s willing to pay more for schools that enhance children’s futures.
“I came from community schools,” she said. “We walked to school. That made our community. It made it strong. It’s not like that anymore. Maybe this will bring it about again.”
Mayor Wyatt Bunker responded to her question about how much undeveloped land the city has available for growth.
“Lakeland is 75 percent rural,” Bunker said. “There’s a lot of areas to grow. Obviously, the vast majority of that is going to be residential, agricultural.”
Residents have been clear they don’t want Canada Road or U.S. 70 development on the scale of Germantown Parkway, he said. “There are a lot of areas where we can grow commercially, and do it in a manner that I think meets the expectation of Lakeland residents.”
Bill Edwards of Lakeland said he is on the fence about the proposed school and its funding. He asked if sales tax funding was considered, and school board chairman Kevin Floyd said there is not enough. Horrell added that the city is maxed out to the state limit on what sales tax it can impose anyway.
Floyd also said that a Fortune 500 company explored private financing with the city but there was no workable option.
City commissioner Sherri Gallick mentioned other Lakeland development that should generate more sales tax revenue, although these were not considered in the funding assumptions: A new Waffle House in the works for U.S. 64, business construction on I-40 and Canada Road, a McDonald’s to be built next to Walgreens, a grocery store and LA Fitness opening.
Edwards praised the city leaders because he no longer hears developers saying that it’s impossible to do business with Lakeland.
Josh Roman of Lakeland also praised the city and school boards for hosting a joint town hall meeting. “You guys definitely understand the enormity or the seriousness of the issue at hand.”
He challenged the boards to minimize the impact of a tax increase on people with fixed incomes, and he also asked the superintendent for his vision on how Lakeland would transition to the Lakeland Prep concept.
Horrell said the smaller size of a Lakeland middle/high school facility — a public school with a “private-school feel” — would foster closer relationships with students, improve college counseling and support, and keep academics at the forefront.
“We feel like that if we funnel all those students into a middle school and a high school, we think we are going to be able to attract outstanding teachers that, frankly, want to work with high-performing students in communities with supportive parents, and we think that we can pull the best out of those students,” Horrell said. “So we see it being a place based on where students feel supported, where they feel nurtured, where they feel like their education is personalized to the extent possible, and where they feel safe — and where they feel like they can have the best opportunity to learn.”
He continued, “It’s one of the most exciting parts about this whole proposition is the idea to kind of grow a base of students on our own that is local, that is in this community, and where the school board can make decisions that reflect the values and the ideas of this particular community. So I really just think the sky would be the limit.”
School board member Matt Wright said he sees the growth of the school system as a rallying point for citizens and the Lakeland Prep atmosphere as something that will draw the scrutiny and admiration of other Tennessee communities.
“And if we do something that unique, I can assure you people will come,” he said. “I can promise you that.”
Jeff Wingo of Lakeland questioned the accuracy of the property tax comparisons between Lakeland and other area cities and towns, because Lakeland residents pay a separate fire fee to Shelby County as the city does not yet have its own fire department. Other municipalities have their own fire services.
“It does not seem to be a fair comparison,” he said.
Bunker said the county fire fee is based on a home’s square footage. He acknowledged that Lakeland’s property tax would be close to $1.80-$1.90 if it included the fire fee, the existing $0.85 property tax and the proposed $0.55 special property tax for Lakeland Prep.
He said the board is currently talking with Arlington about a shared fire service that would save hundreds of thousands of dollars, but getting to that goal will take time. The board will continue its lean operating principles in the meantime.
Gary Cansler of Lakeland mentioned his concerns about rising property taxes for people on fixed incomes.
Robin Larrabee of Lakeland, a former teacher, advocated on different issues: Big classroom windows to provide restorative views to children, window glass designed to minimize birds’ impact deaths, and the importance of protecting mature trees on building sites.
Toby Gordin is a Lakeland native who’s lived there for 27 years, his wife teaches at Lakeland Elementary, and their children have attended Lakeland Elementary. “I live on this lake, I love this community, this is what I’m about. I completely support what we’re doing right here.”
He asked about the city’s standards to keep the neighborhoods’ character. Bunker assured him the city closely regulates minimum lot sizes, incorporation of natural areas, minimal use of siding and other standards.
Ramario Williamson of Lakeland asked whether Lakeland had considered forming a joint school board with Arlington to combine resources. Horrell said it’s been done, but it typically happens in areas where enough resources are not available, such as two rural counties that have to pool resources to create a school system.
Floyd said, “The only way we can control our own destiny is to have our own school system. At the end of the day, if you go the route you’re suggesting, you’re still relying on someone else to cooperate. You’re still relying on somebody to agree with your principles. You’re still relying on somebody to agree with your curriculum.”
Bunker added, “We are good neighbors and great partners with Arlington, but we don’t want to underestimate the fact that there is competition between cities. We are a separate city. There is competition for your producers. You want to get good citizens, right? You want the citizen that cares enough to move their family and their children to this city because they care enough about their education to do so. And if they do, they care about mowing their lawn, keeping up their house, abiding by the law, disciplining their children, paying their bills, contributing to their community, doing all the things that we expect of good citizens. So if we want to get the top-notch citizen, there’s going to be a little competition out there.”
Mike Shideler of Lakeland reiterated Williamson’s point about exploring some partnership with Lakeland. “Just go ask them if they’re interested. I think it’s your fiduciary duty to ask that question.”
He said a city’s long-term debt per person matters, because bond debt has to be paid. He said the long-term debt per person for area municipalities is:
- $900, Germantown
- $800, Lakeland
- $850, Arlington
- $1,200, Collierville
- $3,420, Memphis
He said, “Memphis is cutting services so they can make bond debt payments. They kicked their retirees to the curb.”
He continued, “With this bond issuance, what do you think Lakeland’s debt is going to be? $4,800 per person. Okay? Everything’s hunky dory, they’re making projections. Two years ago, the value of all the assessed land in the city of Lakeland was $329 million. Last year, it was $307 (million). It didn’t grow by their 1.9 percent average, okay? All of her numbers were predicated on assumed growth rates. Assume NO growth. Okay? Sales tax revenue is nothing. Kroger brought in $300,000. We’re looking at a 5% bond of at least a million and a half dollars’ a year revenue shortfall. That’s five Krogers. Okay? Think about the bond debt.”
He believes that persuading Arlington Community Schools to join Lakeland in building a shared facility would cut the cost in half for Lakeland. He challenged the board to broach the subject with Arlington and, if they refuse, to get a written refusal from them, saying that they are not interested and that they want to keep their assets.
“I think that you have a fiduciary duty to get over there and broach it at least, broach with them the possibility of sharing construction on a large capital project like this,” Shideler said. “All I’m asking is go ask the question. It’s shocking to me that nobody here has even bothered to ask that question.”
Bunker said it can certainly be asked, but he anticipates the response will be a swift and dismissive “No.”
“They’re not going to send their capital dollars outside their city,” Bunker said. “I’m just trying to make common sense. If I were a school board member over there, I would object — vehemently object — to sending our capital dollars outside our city. I wouldn’t do it here in Lakeland, and I’m sure they wouldn’t agree to do it there in Arlington.”
Bunker also shot down a crowd suggestion that a shared Lakeland-Arlington middle school could be built in Arlingon. He said if people think advocating for a $50 million Lakeland-only school is difficult, imagine how much harder it would be if the facility were not even placed in the city.
“Let me say this about the schools,” Bunker said. “Arlington ended up with a whole lot of schools that you, as a county taxpayer, already paid for. It makes zero sense for us to go over there and send our Lakeland dollars across the line to build even more schools.”
Shideler extracted a promise from Bunker to ask Arlington that question and post the answer online.
School board member Laura Harrison also pointed out that Lakeland and Arlington are municipal school districts, not special school districts, even though they work together cooperatively under interlocal agreements. A special school district would require legislative intervention. “So to have the idea that we can have a school board that is jointly operated with Arlington and Lakeland is incorrect.”
Natalia Doroshenko, a teacher and Lakeland resident, doubts that the district needs to move immediately on building a school, particularly one this costly.
“We are not in any hurry,” she said. “We still have seven years. And even if it’s two years for architecture and another two years for construction, we will have plenty of time to shop around.”
For example, she asked if the city could give incentives (such as tax discounts) to local architectural firms who designed the school for a lower price.
Bunker said it’s possible to postpone building Lakeland Prep, but he doesn’t see a delay as the most practical option.
“We could wait four years and construct this school, design it and build in a three-year period and have it ready in seven when our agreement is up with Arlington. We would still have the build okay,” Bunker said. “The only thing that we’d really forego is the growth opportunity in the city. We see that there’s going to be a large portion of the population trying to move into the suburbs, particularly after the schools. Those quality citizens that we want to attract to our city are going to be a large portion of the moving in the next five years. If we want to get a large portion of that market share, we need to make our move now instead of waiting. It’s a lot like business – it’s a business decision.”
Floyd spoke up about the Lakeland School System’s unique dilemma in Shelby County, “No one else has to build a school K through 12. And that’s important to remember. Nobody else is in our position. Nobody else can’t educate their kids K through 12. And that’s something we can’t forget as we have this discussion.”
He also said cost and timing make it important to plan and build now. “You know, I look at it from a business standpoint. And timing is everything in business. And there’s a time to buy and there’s a time to sell. Right now is a time to buy and build. Rates are lower than they’re gonna be. Construction costs are only gonna go up. If we’re going to do this, it’s going to cost us more money in the future. And there’s no reason to believe that in three to four years our sales tax revenue is going to be large enough to offset a tax increase at this point. It’s going to increase, but it’s not going to increase enough.”
Bunker built a case that Lakeland needs its own schools to succeed in recruiting and retaining residents who want to have local control over their children’s education. “If we want to compete, we have to offer — in city — a K-12 education.”
School board member Teresa Henry said she knew a Lakeland family who moved during the upheaval period of school district formation, and they chose Arlington because they wanted to know where their children would be educated through high school.
The next speaker, Andre Nolan of Lakeland, returned to a common community fear that the design and construction of Lakeland Prep are too costly and ambitious.
He asked, “Is $50 million for this school overspending? … could we do it for $35 million? Because I’d rather see a $35 million school that we can repay in 20 years.”
He continued, “I don’t still want to be paying for a school that my grandchildren may be attending. In fact, maybe my great-grandchildren.”
Horrell said that was a fair question, but a cost reduction of that scale is not possible. The cost was determined after extensive consultation with architectural firms and other districts that have built schools recently. He compared it to a new 2,000-student high school that Shelby County Schools is planning for the southeast portion of the county at a cost of about $56 million.
“I really haven’t had anybody say that, ‘You’re just going way too high,’” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s just kind of what the market rate is right now, for the kind of high school we’re describing.”
Nolan said that was his point — is Lakeland trying to build something comparable to Christian Brothers?
Another fair question, Horrell said — but the board is confident that area builders know how to build high-quality schools on a budget, and the school’s design is not be over the top. “We are not just trying to shoot out the lights on just having it be impressive visually. We think we can do that on this budget; I mean, it’s not the scrimpiest that you can possibly go, but like I said, there are some people that have told me, ‘Uh, maybe you should have gone a little higher just to have some padding.’ We’re certainly not way out there.”
Horrell continued, “We’re in competition with other cities; we’re in competition with other school systems. They’re making choices about where to live, to spend their entertainment dollar, their property dollar, we’ve got to be able to compete.”
Allen Bourland asked about early payoff of the Lakeland Prep debt if sales tax revenue increases as city officials are predicting. Bunker said he believes the debt can be paid off without penalty at the 10-year mark if funds are available.
Bourland added, “I think that bringing the school system together K through 12 is the right thing to do, and I’m all for this.”
Bruce Wallace, who moved from the Kansas side of Kansas City to the Oakwood community in Lakeland, said he fully supports the school building project, even though he’s not sure his family will still be living in Lakeland when Lakeland Prep goes up.
“I feel like it’s the responsible thing to do for a growing community,” Wallace said.
He’s concerned the cost projections are not high enough. He heard that the cost to build a high school in Alcoa, Tenn., was about $33,000 per student, and that the number varies from $31,000 to $33,000 across the country.
The cost that Lakeland is considering pales in comparision to the steep costs for educational excellence in Kansas, he said. He estimated his family would be paying at least twice the taxes there as well as paying state income tax.
He put Lakeland’s costs into perspective: The extra property tax would cost him about $50 per month. He compared that to a spur-of-the-moment restaurant meal he recently bought for the family at a cost of $46.31 before tip.
“We could have just gone home and had something a little cheaper,” he said. “I understand people are concerned about raising taxes. I think the incremental value of that tax – not comparing us to another community – is relatively small.”
Wallace also urged the board to pay attention to “green” construction options such as solar energy when designing the school and to research available programs to help with that cost.
Nick Uebelhor of Lakeland asked how Shelby County’s property tax is split up now that the school districts have changed. Horrel said the county trustee splits up funds for schools on a strict Average Daily Attendance (ADA) basis. The superintendent simplified the formular for discussion purposes: The trustee obtains a percentage (about 0.0067 for Lakeland) by comparing Lakeland’s 835 elementary students to the total number of students in Shelby County; then he multiplies the available property tax revenue by that percentage to determine Lakeland Elementary’s cut.
The funds for Lakeland’s middle and high school students will go to the Arlington or Bartlett schools they attend until Lakeland Prep is built.
Horrell said, “The municipalities pay a much proportionally larger share of the property taxes than the rest of the county does because there are more expensive homes in the municipalities. It is then divided evenly. It’s probably fair — it’s equitable. But the more students we have, the more of that money we get back into our own system.”
There also is an economy of scale as the system adds more students, he said.
As the final citizen comment of the evening, Horrell read a text on behalf of Catherine Ross, a retired teacher and Lakeland resident.
“I’m all for a new middle and high school in Lakeland. Lakeland is no longer a retirement community,” Horrell read. “We must address the needs of the students of Lakeland. If we can have an elementary school, why would we not logically need a middle and high school? It is not Arlington’s responsibility to educate our older students. Just because it costs money is no reason to not do what is right for Lakeland students. Education is not a necessary evil; it is a public responsibility and due. Not only will a middle/high school benefit the students of Lakeland, it will benefit everyone in Lakeland. When a business considers coming to an area, they look at everything: Taxes, available houses, schools, shopping. If schools aren’t available, why would a builder build houses? If houses aren’t available, why would businesses want to come? It is all interdependent on each another. You can’t be successful with one without having it all – schools, houses, businesses. All three are needed to be a truly successful community.”
Written by Carolyn Bahm, Express editor. Contact her at (901) 433-9138 or via email to bartlett.editor@journalinc.com.
