Have you heard of companies being accused of “taking money from the children” when pursuing legitimate property tax refunds? The fear alone of being maligned in the newspapers often keeps companies from pursuing legitimate appeals. Where does fiscal responsibility on the part of school districts (or any government entity receiving property tax funds) come into play? For the record, I am in no way recommending that corporations pay less than their fair share of property taxes… but why should they pay more? And why are the politics of “taking money from the children” used against corporations who DO pay their fair share?
As a former tax manager for a major manufacturer, I had the opportunity to experience this firsthand. For years, our company had been over assessed and we finally negotiated a settlement with a jurisdiction (who shall remain nameless). The appeals and subsequent settlement included several prior years where we had significantly overpaid our property taxes… that meant refunds of over $1 million. Knowing that the jurisdictions had spent all the money we asked that our refunds simply be spread over the following 3-5 years.
In a last ditch effort, the school superintendent strongly urged us to just forget the money, like other corporations had done. In a dramatic fashion he told us how the school district really needed the money. I thought he might break down and cry right there. Fortunately we had done our research to fight off the emotional surge. While the national average cost to educate a student was around $2,000 to 3,000 at the time, his jurisdiction was spending $14,000 per student.
When confronted with these facts (along with some sarcastic remarks about buying every student a band uniform using taxpayer dollars), the emotion quickly ceased and the settlement was accepted. In reality, this case was not about taking money from the school children… but about using some common sense, especially when spending other people’s money.
Take a peak at this video about taxpayers taking on a school district when it comes to spending more of their money.