View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by VCU Scholars Compass Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2009 School Board Taxing Authority in Virginia Leon Johnson Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons © The Author Downloaded from http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1688 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Virginia Commonwealth University This is to certify that the Dissertation prepared by Leon T. Johnson, entitled School Board Taxing Authority in Virginia has been approved by his committee as satisfactory completion of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Administration. William C. Bosher, Jr., Ph.D. Director of Dissertation Virginia Commonwealth University Michael D. Pratt, Ph.D. Committee Member Virginia Commonwealth University Nelson Wikstrom, Ph.D. Committee Member Virginia Commonwealth University Richard F. Huff, Ph.D. Committee Member Virginia Commonwealth University Robert D. Holsworth, Ph.D. Committee Member F. Douglas Boudinot, Ph.D. Dean, School of Graduate Studies Virginia Commonwealth University Date: April 17, 2009 ©Leon T. Johnson 2009 All Rights Reserved SCHOOL BOARD TAXING AUTHORITY IN VIRGINIA A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University. by LEON T. JOHNSON Bachelor of Science in Finance, Old Dominion University -1974 Master of Public Administration, Old Dominion University - 1990 Dr. William C. Bosher, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Education Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia May 2009 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT A large number of family, friends and coworkers have encouraged me over the years that it took to complete this Ph.D. program. I would like to thank all of them and mention a few of them here specifically. The continual encouragement of my immediate family, Ms. Patricia Johnson, Ms. Sara Johnson and Ms. Emily Johnson has been instrumental in my completion of this dissertation and I would like to thank them here for their unwavering support. The guidance of the members of my Dissertation Committee listed elsewhere in this document, especially Dr. William C. Bosher, Jr., the Chair, has been essential in keeping me on course toward the goal. I would also like to thank my friends, colleagues, and coworkers at Henrico County, Virginia whose continual prodding over the years has motivated me to finish. Finally, I would like to thank Ms. Joyce Cooper who is mainly responsible for the production of this document once it was written. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgement ..........................................................................................................ii Table of Contents....................................................................................................... iii-v List of Tables .................................................................................................................vi List of Figures...............................................................................................................vii Abstract........................................................................................................................viii Chapters CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................3 Justification for the Study................................................19 Serrano v. Priest...............................................................24 CHAPTER 3. A REVIEW OF LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD SYSTEMS OF TAXATION BY STATE..............................28 States with Elected School Boards Only that have Taxing Authority..............................................29 States with Elected School Boards Only that Depend on the Local Governing Body for Local Funding to Schools.................................58 States with Appointed School Boards Only ....................63 States with Elected and Appointed School Boards that have Taxing Authority..................................64 States with Elected and Appointed School Boards that Depend on the Local Governing Body for Local Funding to Schools.................................66 iv Unclassified States...........................................................70 Themes from Existing United States Local School Board Taxation Systems............................72 CHAPTER 4. THE PROCESS NECESSARY TO GIVE TAXING AUTHORITY TO LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS IN VIRGINIA.......................................................77 Debt and Credit Ratings...................................................78 Organizational Issues ......................................................79 Political Considerations Relative to School Board Taxing Authority...................................................81 The Implications of Serrano v. Priest for Virginia ..........94 Recent Tax Limitation Developments.............................95 CHAPTER 5. THE AFFECT OF SCHOOL BOARD TAXING AUTHORITY ON FIFTEEN VIRGINIA LOCALITIES ...................................................96 CHAPTER 6. SURVEY AND DATA ANALYSIS ...................................102 Aggregate Answers to Survey Questions ......................104 Relationship of Survey Question Answers to Years Served in Current Position ..............................106 Relationship of Survey Question Answers to Population..................................................................107 Relationship of Survey Question Answers to Method of Choosing School Board Members ...........108 Relationship of Survey Question Answers to Personal or Professional Experience with Fiscally Independent School Boards .............................110 v Relationship of Survey Question Answers to Professional Position .................................................112 Relationship of Survey Question Answers to Region of State ..........................................................113 Joint Variables ...............................................................115 A. Relationship of Answers to Survey Questions to City Council/Board of Supervisors Members by Region........................................115 B. Relationship of Answers to Survey Questions and City/County Chief Administrator by Region as a Variable ..........117 C. Relationship of Answers to Survey Questions and School Board Members by Region........................................................117 D. Relationship of Answers to Survey Questions to School Superintendents by Region........................................................119 Survey and Data Analysis Summary .............................120 School Board Survey .....................................................127 Survey Response Frequency Table................................130 Chi-square Values by Variable for Each Survey Question.............................................................156 CHAPTER 7. POLICY DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS..............157 Conclusion .....................................................................159 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................162 Appendix.....................................................................................................................171 Vita .............................................................................................................................173 vi LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: School Board Members and Taxing Authority by State .....................28 & 73 Table 2: California Event Timeline ............................................................................37 Table 3: Equivalent Real Estate Tax Rate to Fund Schools Compared to Existing Local Rates for FY2005-06 ......................................99 Table 4: Survey Response Frequency Table .............................................................130 Table 5: Chi-square Values by Variable for Each Survey Question ........................156 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: General Systems Model ..............................................................................10 Figure 2: The Legislative Model ................................................................................11 Figure 3: Map of Alaska.............................................................................................31 Figure 4: School Board Survey Questions................................................................127 ABSTRACT SCHOOL BOARD TAXING AUTHORITY IN VIRGINIA By Leon T. Johnson, Ph.D. A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009 Dr. William C. Bosher, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Education The purpose of this study is to determine to what degree local government