Extra

The only tax about which members of the general public in Delaware have a direct say is the levy which finances the local share of the cost of public education. Yet anyone looking for a quick answer to the basic question of what a proposed increase, such as one the Brandywine School District is asking its residents to authorize on Apr. 23, is going to cost finds himself roaming arcane paths.

Delaware Department of Education is loathe to talk about comparisons and there is no district-to-district tax data among the volume of reports on its Web site.

As part of its referendum campaign, Brandywine has placed a handy calculator on its site. Simply enter the amount of your property's assessment and you'll be told in an instant what you now pay and how much that will increase if voters give the okay.

Since most people pay property taxes over the course of a year through a mortgage escrow, the amount of the assessment is not one of those figures most folks have memorized. If they saved the tax advisory New Castle County sent out last July -- primarily to illustrate the fact that school taxes are higher than county taxes -- the assessment can be found in small print midway down the page. On  most statements that mortgage lenders provide for income tax purposes, the tax paid is listed but not the assessment.

Fewer people have a clear idea of how assessment relates to market value. Generalized figures -- assessment equals 50% of market is the most common -- are bandied about, but it has been so long since New Castle County has had a general reassessment any ratio is, at best, an educated guess. By dividing total assessed valuation by total valuation  DelDOE has come up with 44.4% in Brandywine.

Using that ratio, someone whose house and land are presumed to have a market value of $100,000 is told by the Brandywine tax calculator that his or her tax will go up next year by $71.93 -- from $144.74 to $216.67.

That information is about as valid and useful as being told the home team's score, but not the visitors', if you want to learn who won the ball game.

The Brandywine numbers are based on a present operating-tax rate of 32.6¢ for each $100 of assessed value. That is less than half the total tax rate for operations. It represents only the two taxes that Brandywine voters have authorized since the district was established in 1982. The rest of the operating rate consists of 46.8¢ the consolidated New Castle County district used to charge and which was continued after its break-up into four districts. Because distribution of the county revenue is based on a formula related to district enrollment and total assessed property values, Brandywine taxpayers pay slightly more than their district receives from that tax.

If that is not confusing enough, consider that the tax for operations is only part of the total tax. Brandywine property owners this year are paying at the rate of 5.13¢ to cover debt service on bonds authorized in 1994 and 2001 to finance renovation and modernization of schools. Voters had an indirect say in that they had to approve borrowing the money through the bond sales, but the actual amount of the tax is set each fiscal year by the school board based on estimates of what the district will have to pay in the coming 12 months to cover interest and principle on redeemed bonds.

There is still more.

School boards also are empowered to levy a tuition tax to cover the cost of sending special-needs students to mostly private and some out-of-state schools where they can receive an education beyond what the district is able to provide. These are mostly youngsters with physical, emotional or mental handicaps. Voters have no say in how much can be collected for that purpose. Brandywine's tuition tax is currently 9.5¢.

The boards have further taxing power to provide matching funds for certain state-financed programs. Again, this is at board discretion, without recourse to voters. Brandywine lists these taxes as its minor cap (for capital expenditure) and technology taxes -- 1.3¢ and 1.7¢, respectively.

The current Brandywine tax rate, when everything is included is 97.03¢ for each $100 of assessed property value.

In recent years, the state has provided money to enable districts to give residents one or two tax breaks. In one instance, a primary residence where at least one owner is 65 years of age or older is entitled to a credit of 50% on the first $1,000 of total tax. In the other, the district receives money to cover a reduction in the residential tax rate up to an annually stated amount. However, school boards have the option of keeping that money to finance current operations instead of passing it on. Brandywine has opted to do that in the last few years. There is no advantage in not providing tax relief for seniors since the law covering that does not provide a keeper option.

Looking forward, the Brandywine board in seeking the proposed increase in the tax ceiling -- voters don't vote on a tax rate, only the maximum amount allowed to be levied -- had said it will not follow what in the past has been general practice but instead impose the higher rates only as they become necessary. The maximum is not expected to be reached until the 2006-07 fiscal year. The board also has pledged that, barring "unforeseen circumstances," it will hold another operating-tax referendum for at least five years. A similar pledge in 1994 turned out to have lasted for eight years.

The board also has issued a tax projection covering the next five years. It estimates the pace at which a newly authorized rate would be phased in and repeats a previous projection of how the debt service tax will grow as the result of financing requirements authorized last May. It does not include any changes -- in either direction -- in the tuition or match taxes.

This estimate shows that total Brandywine tax for the fiscal year beginning July 1 -- tax bills are due Sept. 30 -- will rise on that basis to $118.09 if the majority of voters say 'yes' on Apr. 23.

If the Brandywine tax calculator was programmed to reflect that, someone whose house and land are presumed to have a market value of $100,000 would be told that his or her tax will go up next year by $93.38 -- from $430.81 to $524.19.

Divide those numbers by two to find the effect on a property where a senior lives. The presumed market value of a property that would qualify for a full 50% senior tax credit would drop from the present $232,500 to $190,800.