Fresno

How does the State’s diversion of school property taxes affect FRESNO COUNTY?

 

$170,000,000 of Fresno County property taxes allocated to education are taken to fund unrelated State obligations each year.  In 2010-11, $169,447,367 was taken.  In 2011-12, $170,009,649. 

 

This includes the entire Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (which supplements a county’s low-wealth districts), plus $30 million a year of property tax directly allocated to specific school districts, and $5 million directly allocated to community college districts.

 

After having a significant portion of their school property taxes redirected, Fresno County schools did not receive $183,098,084 of their state funding until after the 2010-11 school year was over. The deferred payments grew to $271,734,999 for the 2011-12 school year, before declining (as a result of Prop 30) to $188,034,640 this past summer.  And this summer?  $130,824,226 of deferrals were announced in the First Principal Apportionment for 2013-14 on February 20th, with up to 50% more on the Statutory books. 

 

All districts in Fresno suffer from these delays.  Districts with high local property tax values experience less disruption (just 4% of total district revenues were delayed for Sierra Unified in 2011-12) compared with those that get the vast majority of their funding from the state (Washington Unified had 19% of its annual revenues arrive after kids had left for the summer).

 

District Name

District Type

Average Daily Attendance

2012-13 English Learner, Low Income and Foster Youth Unduplicated Percentage

% of Total Revenues Received After End of 2011-12 School Year

Clovis Unified

UNIFIED

37,216

40%

17%

Sierra Unified

UNIFIED

1,463

47%

4%

Central Unified

UNIFIED

14,335

68%

18%

Fowler Unified

UNIFIED

2,266

80%

15%

Kerman Unified

UNIFIED

4,622

84%

19%

Laton Joint Unified

UNIFIED

689

84%

16%

Sanger Unified

UNIFIED

8,976

84%

16%

Caruthers Unified

UNIFIED

1,278

87%

14%

Riverdale Joint Unified

UNIFIED

1,510

87%

13%

Selma Unified

UNIFIED

6,152

89%

17%

Firebaugh-Las Deltas Joint Unified

UNIFIED

2,148

92%

15%

Fresno Unified

UNIFIED

66,494

92%

16%

Kings Canyon Joint Unified

UNIFIED

9,363

94%

15%

Coalinga/Huron Joint Unified

UNIFIED

3,990

95%

10%

Washington Unified

UNIFIED

2,402

98%

19%

Mendota Unified

UNIFIED

2,718

99%

16%

Parlier Unified

UNIFIED

3,041

100%

18%

Golden Plains Unified

UNIFIED

1,816

100%

10%

 

It’s time to grant Fresno County schools and community colleges the same protection for their stable, reliable, local property taxes that cities, the county, and special districts (mosquito abatement, lighting, flood, libraries, parks, hospitals) have enjoyed for a decade.