Columbia school board paves way on property tax bump for salary raises
The Columbia Board of Education voted to raise the property tax ceiling in order to give employees a raise.
The board voted unanimously on Monday night on a 9-cent increase in its tax ceiling.
The board will set the tax rate at a special meeting on Aug. 23.
The 9-cent raise would be the last part of a voter-approved measure in 2016. Voters allowed the district to raise the property tax by as much as 65 cents in that election. District leaders promised the additional money would help them give employees raises.
A 9-cent raise would put the property tax rate for CPS at $6.15 for every $100 of assessed value.
The 9-cent increase is expected to bring in more than $2 million, according to chief financial officer Heather McArthur. The district currently spends 79 percent of its operating budget on salaries and benefits.
Teachers have asked the district to put more money toward its salary schedule, or help teachers avoid spending their own money to supply their classrooms. District leaders agreed to spend some of its nearly $9 million budget surplus from last year on supplies for classrooms. McArthur told ABC 17 News that the district bought tissues and hand sanitizer based on feedback it received from teachers. Administrators would deliver those supplies to schools in need in the near future, McArthur said.
The supply idea came from Columbia Missouri National Educators Association president Kathy Steinhoff, a teacher at Hickman High School. Steinhoff said that as of Monday night, she was unaware of the district’s plan for supply deliveries. More than 80 percent of CPS teachers have paid for their own classroom supplies, Steinhoff said. Some teachers, though, get help from students and parent groups on supplies.
“Many of the elementary teachers get their supply lists taken care of,” Steinhoff said. “But it is different from school to school. I know some [middle and high school] teachers often don’t have students bringing in extra Kleenexes or extra paper or extra pencils.”
