Columbia Public Schools Listening Forum

I attended a very emotional forum Wednesday night hosted by the Columbia Public Schools Board of Education. I wanted to find out how closely the school district and the county assessor communicate, because property taxes mostly fund public schools. I've read several news articles, like this one from June 8th, that appear to show some kind of communication.

But after reading another article from June 17th, just a week later, I'm not sure what kind of communication.

The first article says "administrators found out last week that the assessed valuation of property in the district has grown just 3.14 percent over the past year, less than the 3.5 percent increase they expected to see. "

"District officials had even been cautiously optimistic that assessed valuation would grow as much as 4.5 percent, and they planned to use the additional revenue to give employees an across-the-board pay raise."

The second article says, "the district expects to see at least a 5 percent growth in assessed valuation in 2009, a reassessment year..."

Huh? There are four different numbers here, with four different expectations, each with its own plan.

How did the Columbia school district get this information? If they got it from the county assessor, why isn't it consistent?

These are all important reasons I believe the county assessor should be communicating regularly and openly with local school boards and administrators.

I want to continue hearing from you -- your concerns about our economy, our jobs, our schools, our homes, and our families. Tonight I'll be at Twilight Fest in Downtown Columbia.

Tomorrow, I'll be attending the Muleskinner's debate between southern district county commissioner Karen Miller and her challenger, Sid Sullivan.

I'll be at the 14th annual Hallsville Heritage Days this Saturday, June 21 and at several other events and venues that day.