Wenona's TIF district revisited

I did receive email from people in Wenona who seemed to be upset with the fact that their tax dollars are going to the Wenona TIF rather than to the Fieldcrest school district. I also received a telephone call from Bill Simmons who is the City Manager of Wenona and who was involved in the creation of the TIF district in Wenona. Simmons felt that my editorial was unfair to Wenona. He maintained that the Fieldcrest school district was made fully aware of the nature of Wenona's TIF district when it was established in 1994 and they accepted the conditions of the TIF. I did not have an opportunity to contact Jerry Christenson who was Fieldcrest's superintendent at that time so I will accept Simmons claim unless someone else wants to challenge his statement. If that statement is true, then our former school administrators failed to perform their duties and to protect the taxpayers of the district.

Needless to say, the telephone call between Mr. Simmons and myself was rather acrimonious. He maintained that building new homes in Wenona's TIF district is bringing in more students to the school district which allows the school to collect more money from the state to support the increased enrollment. This is true but the problem is that while each new student may add $4,860 to the school's foundation level from the state, this amount is not enough to cover the costs of educating our students and does not take into consideration the fixed costs of maintenance and upkeep for the school. The extra cost needed to cover the expense of educating the student theoretically would come from the property taxes of a new home in an expanding community. However, in Wenona there will be no new property taxes in a newly developed area for another 14 years because it is included in the TIF district. Any new students from Wenona only adds to the economic burden of the school district if not supported by an increase in the tax base.

I can understand Mr. Simmons consternation about our objections to the TIF district if he felt that the Fieldcrest school district had no objection to its creation in 1994. The Fieldcrest school board should have made the conditions of Wenona's TIF district known to the public at that time so that the public could respond. Apparently, that never happened and here we are today with the school in a financial mess and Wenona's development dependent on its TIF district.

The Fieldcrest school board will most likely address the Wenona TIF district at its next meeting Thursday night, July 17, at 7:00 p.m. at the Fieldrest High School Band Room. I urge all residents who are concerned about their tax dollars to attend the meeting to show their concern and to ask questions. This is the community's chance to address the issue.

It is my opinion that the school board should try to get an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Wenona's TIF district that would change the percentage of money that goes to the school district. Right now tax dollars are frozen at the 1994 level and no new tax increases are going to the school district. This is unacceptable. Fieldcrest has a new school board that should try to undo the mistake made by the board in 1994 in going along with the Wenona TIF district conditions. I urge both Mr. Simmons and the Fieldcrest Board of Education to do the right thing and sit down and attempt to come up with some type of agreement that results in more of Wenona's TIF money going to the Fieldcrest school district. A fair agreement will reflect favorably on the City of Wenona and will increase the solidarity of the communities in the district. To do otherwise, will have the opposite effect and will ensure the defeat of any future tax referendums.