The above linked charts show the comparative property tax effort for each SEE district and the average of the six districts considered the “grandfathered” districts for $700/PU—the first tier, equalized at $476,000 in referendum market value per resident pupil unit—in referendum authority. These districts comprise the set of districts that have referendum authority in excess of the 26% referendum cap.

Because of the high level of property wealth in these six districts, the amount of effort needed to generate $700/PU in referendum revenue is considerably lower than it is in SEE member districts. The first bar shows the approximate tax burden on a $250,000 property for the aforementioned $700/PU in referendum revenue.

The next two bars show the level of burden in a specific SEE district. The first bar shows what the burden is under the current level of equalization and the second bar shows the burden if there were no referendum equalization program.

Because these charts have been put together prior to the November 2007 elections, they are of limited value in describing reality. What they do show is that the districts with high levels of referendum authority have generally had a property wealth advantage that keeps the property tax burden in those districts at a level more reasonable than in the average SEE district.

It is important to remember that these charts do not show the level of current burden. The burden is higher in many of the wealthier districts because their level of referendum revenue is closer the $1,500 per resident pupil unit than it is to $700 per resident pupil unit. Again—and this cannot be stressed enough—these charts merely shows that if all districts in the state were raising the same level of revenue through the referendum--$700 per resident pupil unit in this example—the tax burden would be greatly different between districts.

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