by Antoinette Konz

Jefferson County Public Schools wants to increase taxes as much as 3.4 percent this year to raise an additional $17 million that officials say they need to offset state funding cuts and continue instructional programs vital to boosting student achievement.

If the school board approves the new tax rate, it would be the fifth straight year the district has raised taxes.

“We don’t want to decrease the services to our schools,” school board Chairwoman Diane Porter said. “The federal and state dollars continue to decrease. It doesn’t give us a lot of options if we are truly committed to providing quality services to our children.”

The district filed a legal notice Friday in which it proposed raising the tax rate from 67.7 cent to 70 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Under the new rate, the owner of a house assessed at $100,000 would pay $700 — $23 more than last year, said Cordelia Hardin, chief financial officer for the district.

Property owners would notice the tax increase when they get their bills in October, she said.

“Property values have increased this year for the first time in two years, so that will help some,” Hardin said. “But we are also facing some substantial cuts from the state.”

The school board will hold a public hearing at 6:40 p.m. Aug. 27 to discuss raising the tax rate to 70 cents on real and personal property, which would bring in $407.2 million in revenue.

The past two years, the district has seen a reduction of $9.9 million in state funding and the state has also reduced per-pupil spending from $3,903 to $3,833.

“We are having to make up for that shortfall,” she said. “Also, the state no longer pays for textbooks — that is another $3 million annually that we are having to come up with.”

School board member Debbie Wesslund said Friday that it’s never easy to ask for a tax increase.

“It’s our responsibility to determine what’s needed to impact student achievement and what schools need,” she said. “Funding from federal and state levels has decreased and is uncertain, and that leaves our local community with a bigger chunk of the responsibility for resourcing the system.”

The additional revenue produced by the tax increase would include $11.4 million for instruction, $3.5 million for transportation, $1.7 million for plant maintenance, $492,000 for the building fund and $279,000 for collections costs, according to the legal notice filed by the district.

Items added to the budget this year include assistant principals at a cost of $4.5 million and extended work days for elementary and middle schools principals at a cost of about $1 million, Hardin said.

“We are also looking to put security cameras on all of our school buses and replacing our phone data system,” she said.

But Hardin cautioned that even though officials are asking for the increase, the board may not grant it.

“The board could decide to keep the tax rate where it is,” she said. “I’m giving them their options as to what’s available to them in terms of tax rates, as well as revenues generated.”

Wesslund said she and other board members have not made a decision.

“We have to look at the needs of the district, the resources available and then make a decision on what is best for our students,” she said.

During the 2011-12 year, Jefferson County Public Schools had a budget of $1.1 billion, with a general fund of $922 million — making it among the largest local government budgets in Kentucky.

Approximately two-thirds of the budget goes to fund the district’s 155 schools, with the rest funding facilities/transportation, administrative instructional support, administrative operations and other systemwide costs.

Over the past four years, the school board has repeatedly raised taxes to help balance the district’s budget.

In 2008, the board raised the tax rate one penny to 62.5 cents per $100 of assessed value for real estate and personal property. Since 2008, the owner of a house assessed at $100,000 has seen a $62 increase in school taxes.

Under state law, a taxing district can adjust its rate annually, but the new rate cannot result in its revenue increasing by more than 4 percent. Any increase exceeding 4 percent requires a petition that puts the increase up for a referendum.

Hardin said last year’s slight tax increase did not bring the district additional revenue because many properties have dropped in value. The district received $376.5 million in 2010 and $373.1 million in 2011.