Big stakes for schools riding on November ballot

 Those of us of a certain age who remember a certain debacle in the Middle East, might also remember when then secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld said in a justification for the war on Iraq:

“As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

I was reminded of this famous “known unknowns” soundbite recently after hearing the concerns raised by the Raleigh County commission regarding Amendment 2, the property tax amendment that the state legislature voted to put on the ballot in the upcoming November election.

A county commissioner said that “the unknowns are what scares everybody,” and because of this uncertainty, Raleigh County is among fifteen county commissions to date that publicly oppose Amendment 2. 

The commissioner is spot on, there are many scary unknowns as to how counties could make up for the potential loss of $515 million in revenue if Amendment 2 passes muster with West Virginia voters.  

There are also some known knowns, the first of which is who is behind this effort to strip local county governments of the power to set business and manufacturing property tax rates, and give that authority over to the state legislature.  Just follow the money.  

Of the estimated $515 million in revenue generated by these taxes for the counties, over seventy per cent is paid for by large businesses, the majority of which are wealthy, out-of-state corporations who want nothing more than another tax break.  

To be sure, these moneyed interests have been lobbying our legislature for years to eliminate this tax.  Putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot is their latest attempt.  

Another known known is who stands to lose if Amendment 2 were to pass, and the list is long. Nearly all of these business property taxes fund local services including public schools, libraries, EMTs, firefighters, among many other public goods and services.  Amendment 2 would permanently eliminate local control over one of the biggest funding sources for these critical public services.   

And lest we forget that it’s these public services that businesses one way or another rely on, to educate future employees, keep their employees and their families safe in emergencies, and create a thriving community where businesses would want to locate. 

In the “known unknown” category is what will future legislators do.  A common defense of Amendment 2 is that it doesn’t mean the legislature will cut these business and manufacturing taxes, it simply means they can.  

But the truth is that current politicians cannot say that future legislatures will ensure counties have adequate revenue.  Because of the inherent unpredictability of power at the state legislature, assurances made for revenue replacement can be nothing more than empty promises. 

Speaking of promises, after Labor Day West Virginians will be inundated with fancy ads on TV, in print, and on the radio tying a vote for Amendment 2 to a break on their car tax.  Gee I wonder who will be paying for all that expensive advertising.    

Fortunately a known known is that West Virginians have a keen eye for a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  The sheep will be the “car tax promise” and the wolf is a $515 million power grab away from local governments.  As the saying goes, remember in November! 

(This op-ed was published in the Charleston Gazette Mail by my co-worker Lida Shepherd.)