West Muskingum schools
recently decided to put the proposed income tax levy on the
upcoming ballot ... again. They say it is "only" a 0.75 percent
(3/4 of 1 percent) income. Very nice. Obviously the (3/4 of 1
percent) looks much tinier than the larger looking .75 percent.
By the way, all will pay this tax who have income, college
students, high-schoolers, all except some senior citizens who
get a discount. And it's taxed on your whole check, no pre-tax
deductions. Here is an example of the cost for a typical West M
household for 1 year: A household with income of $80,000 will
pay $600.
Yes, West M will get an extra $600 from every household every
year in their district if the household income is $80,000, and
West M has hundreds of households with more than $80k in income.
West M loves to promote the fact that they get less money
from the state than other districts in our county. Well, that's
because West M taxpayers fund the highest proportion of income
than all other districts in the county. Funding is based on two
main ideas: number of students and property assessments. West M
has high property values and a low number of students so the
state funds West M less because the taxpayers fund it more. The
amount of money West M gets from the state and taxpayers is in
line with the other schools in our county. If West M gets this
increase, they will be so far out of line, they will need to
change their address to Rockefeller Row.
Also, if this passes, all other county residents better get
ready to pay more also, because it will be on your ballot soon.