The Indiana General Assembly outlawed Franklin Township’s busing fees this session, but also passed a law providing relief for districts who lost more than 20 percent of their property tax revenues. 45 districts that cumulatively lost $136.9 million to the caps are now eligible to restructure their debt under the new law.
But that’s where we get to the bad news:
- Consider Bourke’s refinancing analogy: Refinancing a 15-year loan to a 30-year loan will reduce your loan payments, but not by exactly half. You are, after all, still paying interest over 30 years, not 15. In districts that take advantage of the loan restructuring, taxpayers would ultimately bear that burden.
- In enrollment terms, the damage from the busing fees may already be done for Franklin Township schools. “The school district did not provide for our poorest students,” parent Christine Bischoff, who pulled her children out of Franklin Township schools, told WXIN-TV. “In my opinion the people that sit on the school board have mishandled what happened.”
http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2012/03/27/the-good-news-bad-news-about-the-end-of-franklin-townships-busing-fees/
