MORNING STAR • JULY 19 - 25, 2007 PAGE 3
Legislators correct equalization formula imbalance — for now By Lynn R. Parks Nearly $700,000 is allocated in this year’s state budget for school districts that stood to lose funding under the state’s equalization formula. The four school districts in western Sussex County, as well as Milford and Caesar Rodney school districts, will share the money. Of the western Sussex districts, the Seaford School District will get the largest share of the “hold harmless” money, about $200,000. Under the state’s equalization formula, the Seaford district stood to lose that same amount in funding this year. “We are delighted to get the hold harmless funding again this year,” said Donna Blackburn, director of administrative services for the Seaford School District. “Unfortunately, it speaks to the inadequacy of the state’s equalization funding formula. There is no year-to-year guarantee that we will get this.” Blackburn said that the money will be used for unmet needs in the district, and to boost the district’s set-aside account for future expenses. The process of allocating the money will occur over the fall, as part of the district’s budget update. The Woodbridge School District will receive about $102,000, the amount it stood to lose under the formula. The Laurel School District will get $13,158 and the Delmar School District $68,310. The Caesar Rodney School District will get $1,476 and the Milford School District, $210,634. Last year, the state legislature approved spending $172,000 to keep equalization funding in four districts at the previous year’s level. Lake Forest, Milford, Seaford and Woodbridge school districts received the funding. The “hold harmless” provision is necessary because the state’s equalization formula, designed to equalize funding among school districts, in fact can do the opposite in areas where property taxes are paid based on old assessments. In Sussex County, property taxes are based on assessments made in 1974. The funding formula is based on property values. When a district’s property values go up, an indication that the wealth of the district is increasing, its funding under the formula goes down. But increases in property values do not necessarily mean increases in local property taxes. In Sussex County, housing prices have more than doubled since 2000. But with no reassessment since 1974, no one is paying taxes on those increasing values. “Districts cannot realize a real increase in local tax dollars…unless the assessed value of that property also changes,” Milford School District superintendent Robert Smith and chief financial officer Mark Dufendach said in a March report.
Stadium lights should be up by football season By Lynn R. Parks The Seaford School District is on track to have new stadium lights installed by the first home football game in September. District director of administrative services Donna Blackburn said that money for the lights will come from local energy money that the district was able to save through energy conservation, as well as from minor capital improvement money and major capital improvement money. Estimated cost of the light replacement is $200,000. The lights at Bob Dowd Stadium, more than 40 years old, were deemed unsafe to use last June, before the start of commencement ceremonies at the stadium. The start of commencement was pushed back an hour, to 6 p.m., so the lights would not be necessary.