Rappahannock's Wealth

Rappahannock's Wealth

Once again the state’s formula for assessing a locality’s ability to pay for education ranks Rappahannock one of the wealthiest counties in the state — wealthier than Fairfax, Fauquier and Loudoun counties, wealthier than any of our surrounding counties.

As always the value of county real estate is primarily responsible for the Local Composite Index being so high at .74. This means that once the state computes the cost of providing an education that meets the state’s standards of quality, a computation that woefully underestimates the true cost, and subtracts the portion of the sales tax the county gets, the state will expect county taxpayers to pick up 74 percent of the remaining cost while the state picks up 26 percent.

Of course the county has to spend more than this to run the school system, and basically county taxpayers pick up 100 percent of this additional spending.

Assessing county real estate at its fair market value, based on sales, is not the only problem with the formula. Another measure the state uses is adjusted gross income. While statistics supplied by the state’s Department of Education indicate that Rappahannock families rank below the state’s average in median income, using adjusted gross income as a measure of ability to pay for education, the state ranks Rappahannock above average.

Every four years Virginia elects a new governor, and every governor appoints a body to study educational funding. Most of these bodies propose a change in the formula, but nothing seems to come of those proposals, and the formula remains the same.

The only relief in sight for Rappahannock County is that two years hencqj when the state again computes the Local Composite Index, the increased enrollment in the public schools should result in a lower number.