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But that s far from the whole picture. Rappahannock Comity, as Barney O’Meara and others have noted, is being shamefully shortchanged by the state. Much of the state aid is designed to equalize educational opportunity around the state — that is, to subsidize poorer school districts (which, almost by definition, means rural counties). So how does it work out? Look, for a prime example, at the “basic state school fund": All counties together received $657 per pupil from that fund. Rappahannock schools got $441 per pupil! The shortfall of $216 per pupil comes out to $215,352 in total — the equivalent of 10 cents on Rappahannock’s property tax rate!
If we were a rich community, high on the ability-to-pay-taxes scale, that would be pardonable. But we are not rich! And it is not pardonable! It seems obvious that, if Rappahannock’s elected officials are serious about slowing the tax rise, it’s time they took the lead in a campaign for fair treatment by Richmond.
CHARLES and HELEN PLATT
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