How could the new education funding plan in TN impact your taxes? FOX 17 News takes a look

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Gov. Bill Lee is proposing a new funding formula that would invest a billion new dollars into Tennessee’s public schools.

The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement plan would add $750 million in state contributions over the next three years and adjusts how much local counties are expected to contribute.

Some state lawmakers are questioning whether they need to tell their hometowns to start considering a tax hike.

“I cannot understand how, if we increase the overall cost of education, that the local share, that the local contribution, that they don’t go up,” said Sen. Bo Watson during a recent committee hearing on the plan.

“Counties don’t know how they’re not going to come out of this without a tax increase after those initial years,” Rep. Gloria Johnson said.

Counties won’t be expected to pay more than their typical local share for at least three years under the new plan.

But what happens after that?

FOX 17 News obtained county-by-county projects for education funding from the State Department of Education.

A review of letters sent to school directors shows at least four mid-state school districts would eventually be expected to pay more under the new plan than they do under the current funding formula, including Davidson, Cheatham, Maury counties and Murfreesboro City Schools.

Nashville would be expected to pay more in local contributions than most counties in the state due to its fiscal capacity.

Gov. Bill Lee says it will be up to local leaders on whether to raise taxes to meet those local contributions.

“I can’t predict the future, but we have put in place a very clear plan so that locals don’t have to raise taxes in order to provide the funding necessary for the future,” Lee said.

Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn says if the state were to invest a billion dollars into the current education funding plan, 25 percent of counties would be forced to raise taxes to meet their local contributions.

The Department of Education says there’s always the possibility of an increase in local share and taxes under the current formula, not just under the new plan.

The new plan is still under consideration by lawmakers and is not finalized just yet.

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