As Oklahoma schools prepare to start classes in coming weeks, they are dealing with the impact of having less money – fewer teachers, cuts in arts and music programs and tighter budgets for classroom supplies.
But according to state and local officials, the pain might be less if state and county governments took steps to ensure collection of school-related county taxes that are being lost because of incorrectly assessed property values.
State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones estimates that over the past decade, between $500 million and $1 billion in property taxes have been left on the table because county assessors, especially in small counties, either lacked the software to accurately value properties or chose not to do their jobs for fear of angering voters and losing re-election.
Jones’ estimate is based on performance audits that the State Auditor’s Office has done since 1991.
Counties generally spend much of their property tax revenue on local schools. The higher the property values in a school district, the less in per-pupil state education funding the districts receive.
The state aid formula is complex and is designed to prevent large funding inequities among school districts. But counties can reap a net gain for their schools by collecting property taxes on accurately assessed, higher values.
Still, counties are limited in collections by a state law that caps, at 5 percent, any increase in the fair cash value of property.
The Tax Commission determined that 52 of the state’s 77 counties would have collected $192 million more in property taxes in 2014 had the valuations been accurate and the cap didn’t exist.