Posted on 05/29/2008 5:05:16 PM PDT by SSS Two
MONTGOMERY — In a case that could have far-reaching consequences for Alabama's education and tax system, parents in two Black Belt counties have sued the state in federal court, claiming caps on property taxes are a form of racial discrimination that prevents their children from receiving an adequate education.
The plaintiffs in Lynch v. Alabama want the court to suspend the property tax caps in the 1901 constitution and related amendments as violations of the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act.
If they win, the governor and Legislature could be forced to draft amendments lifting caps on both millage and assessments. Critics say the limits have led to chronic underfunding of the state's K-12 system.
"If the court granted the injunction we were looking for, it would force the governor and the Legislature to do something," said Jim Blacksher, an attorney in the case. "It would affect property taxes and sales taxes as well."
The suit was filed March 13 in U.S. District Court in Birmingham on behalf of 10 public school students in Lawrence and Sumter counties. Lawyers say the schools have been hurt by the way Alabama assesses taxes. They're seeking class-action status that could impact schools across the state.
The state government counters in its filings that the plaintiffs have no standing in federal court because they have not cited a specific injury brought by the property tax system.
Alabama spent $6,896 per pupil in state and local spending in 2004-05, according to the Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit, Atlanta-based educational advocacy group. That put Alabama 46th out of 50 states, far below the national average of $9,466 per student and the Southern average of $8,011 per student.
Property taxes were first capped in the state's 1875 Constitution. The 1901 Constitution, framed in part by Black Belt planters who strongly opposed black education, restricted property taxes to 6.5 mills, with an optional 1 mill county assessment.
Subsequent amendments adopted in the 1970s set up a three-tiered property tax assessment system that limited residential and agricultural property assessments to 10 percent of current use value.
The property tax caps particularly benefit large farmers and the forest industry. John Dinan, a political science professor at Wake Forest University who studies school funding lawsuits, said most of these lawsuits are a way of getting around legislatures that may be captive to powerful special interest groups.
"They often bypass a messy legislative process," he said. "In some cases, it's because there are vested interests litigants are trying to overcome."
Lawyers in Lynch v. Alabama argue that the low property taxes dictated by the constitution disadvantage low-income students around the state and lead to lower academic performance and poorer preparation for college.
"Because of the anemic property taxes available to most local school systems, low-income students throughout Alabama, who are disproportionately black, suffer from underfunding," the suit argues.
The plaintiffs include both blacks and whites, Blacksher said.
The Department of Revenue, named as a defendant in the case with Gov. Bob Riley, declined to comment on the lawsuit. The department hired former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Drayton Nabers to represent the state in the suit. Nabers also declined to comment on the case.
In a dismissal motion, the state argues that the plaintiff's injuries are "hypothetical and conjectural" because they do not cite a specific injury to the children in the suit, as required under the U.S. Constitution.
The government also argues the plaintiffs seek to have the court legislate from the bench and that it would be an undue imposition on the state's tax system.
"Plaintiffs' complaint, with its broad-sweeping requested remedies, if successful, would constitute one of the most pervasive and disruptive intrusions by a federal court into a state tax system in the history of federal jurisprudence," the state's order to dismiss says.
Blacksher said the argument suggested that discrimination "is so embedded and infiltrates the system revenue that nobody can challenge it in court."
While the lawsuit asks the federal court to declare the property taxes unconstitutional, it does not ask the court to provide oversight or a remedy, something Blacksher and Knight both emphasized.
"It will be up to the Legislature to make changes to that," Knight said.
These people are idiots. Instead of taking the extra money they save from low property taxes and sending their kid to a private school or do some home schooling they are actually suing for higher taxes.
If they win this lawsuit they should have their property taxes immediately tripled. It’s for the children, right?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
No government, state or federal, has a legitimate role in education.
Don’t rob others to pay for your kids’ daycare.
They obviously have not heard how California has one of the highest spending on public schools, and yet is 49th in performance on standardized testing.
More money does not equal better schooling, in fact the opposite seems to be the result.
The envy of others will be the death of this country.
I like the sates counter, what injury? They should stand on this and force the plaintiff to show that any jurisdiction has seen improved academic performance from increased spending. I believe that the only thing that correlates to increased per-pupil spending in the US is graft and corruption in the school system.
We have been looking at retiring in Alabama. If they pass this law, which will gouge homeowners, we’ll be looking to retire somewhere else.
Sounds like renters want landlords to pay more in property taxes for the renters’ kids’ schools. Are they going to sue over discrimination when their rents go up to cover this?
Anybody care to wager on which side the Education Establishment is likely to come down on? Lets see, more mandated money for Alabama’s Gubrmint Skools for administration, salaries and more union dues. Pardon my skepticism.
Now I’m pissed! Lazy bunch of welfare lovers.
McCain it is—ALL THE WAY!
In the case of California it may be culture has an effect on education.
Parents there have more important things to do than raising their children. Costs are higher and folks are too busy working and then unwinding doing their own thing.
The kids can take care of themselves.
Pathetic huh?
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