The school district which employs this writer is Davidson County. This County is best described as "underdeveloped" and has a population of some 22,000. The average age of the citizens is higher than other areas of the state, due to the fact that the county's young keep moving out of state. The school district is K-12 and has three administrators and a volunteer staff of six. Once the center of a lucrative pecan industry, the furniture manufacturers who once accounted for a large portion of the county tax base have closed down or merged. The impact is that the jobs those factories provided are no longer in existence and therefore the incentive for the county youth to stay has been diminished.
Regarding schools, we see the following:
The district is predominately white and there is an average per pupil expenditure of $4,834.38. There are some services offered, including transportation and nutrition, to students within the district. We are estimating a 22 percent shortfall, and also need at least a 24 percent increase in per pupil expenditures. Based on that need, we are considering three plans.
Sometimes called "The Roberts Plan" the gist of this is to increase state sales tax (a first for the State of Confusion) and make adjustments to the property tax codes. Consider them one at a time. Roberts sales tax is 4% which is minimal compared to other states. However, since the residents of the county are already suffering economically, the tax is repressive and would also take a long time to pass the State of Confusion legislature. Such a tax, also, is bound to be fought by the residents of the metropolitan counties.
Roberts property tax ideas are more logical and they call for a tax that would be required as a prerequisit
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