By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX – Texas State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn Tuesday released volumes of figures showing her calculations regarding how a split tax roll as proposed by Gov. Rick Perry will affect every school district in Texas.
The figures are laid out by House and Senate districts and show the total "new money" to the districts for 2006 and 2007, according to her calculations.
Gov. Perry's Press Secretary Kathy Walt tried to deflect the allegations by the comptroller by saying again what the governor claims - that his plan infuses $2.5 billion in new money into public schools while adding another $1.5 billion to ensure no school district "receives less money than it does today." She said school districts will receive an average of $375 per student in new funding under the governor's plan. "Every school will benefit and it is patently false to say otherwise."
"Of the two elected leaders, there is only one individual who is not offering one new dime for public education and one dime in property tax cuts, and that is Comptroller Strayhorn who has refused to come up with any plan whatsoever," said Walt.
Whoa, Nellie, says Strayhorn in yet another press release fired off after Walt's latest barrage.
Strayhorn retaliates by saying that the governor miscalculated the "Hold Harmless estimate" in his plan.
"The governor's $1.7 billion mistake is one part of the $10 billion deficit he leaves for the school children of Texas," says the comptroller. According to Strayhorn, the "Hold Harmless estimate" for the 2006-07 biennium is said to be "$1.1 billion." That is only enough money to hold harmless for one year, not a biennium, says Strayhorn, who adds that number should be more than doubled.
According to the comptroller, the Text of the Conference Committee Report on House Bill 1 (General Appropriations Act) 2003, states "Appropriated Receipts (Redistributed Local Revenue) estimated" at $999.8 million for fiscal year 2004 and $1.14 billion for fiscal year 2005. The number grows annually, points out the comptroller.
The comptroller's recently released analysis of his plan rejects the governor's one-year figure of $1.1 billion and replaces it with what she says is the correct $2.88 billion.
She points out her new money estimate assumes and includes natural growth and identifies only new dollars that would be given to districts as a result of the governor's plan.