Western states see hope for getting education funds

By Emily Richmond

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.

Since 2002 Nevada and other Western states have argued with little success that the federal government should chip in more education funding to compensate for owning so much land that does not generate tax revenues for the states.

Now that Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is the incoming majority leader, education officials believe the time is ripe to press for collection on what they consider an overdue debt.

"Up to now, there's been no interest at the federal level to do anything," said Keith Rheault, Nevada's superintendent of public instruction. "With a new majority leader who has been concerned with states getting their fair share of funding, there could actually be some movement."

Because the federal government doesn't pay property taxes on its land - one of the primary funding sources for public education - it contributes to two other sources of funds to states.

It pays "impact aid," calculated on the number of schoolchildren whose parents live or work on military bases or who reside on Indian reservations.

Nevada received $3.1 million in impact aid for the 2005-06 fiscal year.

Impact aid based solely on enrollment of military dependents isn't enough to fully compensate schools for the lost tax revenues, Rheault said.

"It's a drop in the bucket," he said.

The federal government also makes payments to states in lieu of taxes - an amount that in 2004, among the Western states, equaled just 4 percent of the annual property tax revenue lost because of federal land ownership.

Twelve Western states, organized by Utah, have joined to lobby for increased federal school funding, citing the financial burden faced by the states in being home to so much federal land.

The Council of State Government-West, which is overseeing the states' lobbying efforts, estimates that Nevada's public schools are losing more than $100 million annually in property tax revenues because of land owned by the federal government.

A letter from Nevada's State Board of Education is expected to go out next week to Reid and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., asking for support of increased federal funding to the states for education.

Spokesmen for Ensign and Reid said they wouldn't comment until the letter is received.

Reid's office noted that he has long fought for an increase in the federal government's payments in lieu of taxes, some of which are earmarked for educational programs.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, has introduced legislation that mirrors elements of the state's initiative. But expected hearings on the bill are in limbo after House Resource Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., lost his re-election bid.

Scott Parker, a spokesman for Bishop, said he was optimistic the legislation would be heard.

"When Rob initially introduced the legislation he knew it would be a long-term process," Parker said. "Who knows what the ultimate solution is, but the (states' effort) is a good start."

Oregon state Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, a Democrat and co-chairwoman of the Council of State Government-West, also was optimistic.

"Clearly, Western states are at a huge disadvantage in terms of school funding because of large ownership of land by the federal government," Brown said. "I would hope both Democrats and Republicans would be interested in at least taking a look at the issue."

Each of the Western states in the coalition allocates as much of its total budget to public education as the national average, and taxes citizens at a comparable rate, the council reports.

As a result of less funding, according to the council, 10 of the 12 states in the nation with the largest public school class sizes are Western states.