Foundation of education

By CHARLES S. JOHNSON - IR State Bureau - 02/26/08

Business leaders, students and a top educational official launched a campaign Monday to urge Montanans to support the once-a-decade, six-mill property tax levy that helps fund the university system.

Referendum 118, put on the Nov. 4 ballot by the Legislature, asks voters to keep the current six-mill property tax levy to help fund state colleges and universities over the next 10 years.

Officials estimate this tax will raise $13.4 million annually in each of the next two years out of the system's $200 million, student-supported annual budget.

The system's overall budget from all sources, counting research and development, dormitory fees and other sources, is $1.2 billion annually, said Sheila Stearns, state commissioner of higher education.

She called the six-mill levy "the brick upon which the rest of the foundation is built."

"The six-mill levy is not a new tax," said Larry Simkins, president of Washington Cos. of Missoula and co-chair of the Committee to Keep the Six Mill Levy. He said Montanans have consistently backed a property tax levy for higher education since adopting one in 1920.

It helps pay for innovations in Montana higher education, including online classes, and makes it so "businesses like the one I represent can compete in a worldwide economy," Simkins said.

"To continue educational excellence, we need to support the six-mill levy," said Dustin Leftridge, University of Montana student-body president.

Several University of Montana-Helena students endorsed the levy and cited the college's affordability.

"It's just incredible that I can go to school four blocks away from my home and have it be affordable," said Curtis Madsen, who praised the hands-on training he's receiving in diesel mechanics.

"If this opportunity weren't in Helena, I wouldn't be able to attend school," said single mother Bree Duffy.

"You are the reason we're asking voters to renew the six-mill levy for 10 years," said the campaign's other co-chair, Sherry Cladouhos, president and chief executive of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana.

She said the goal is to make higher education as affordable and accessible as possible because "higher education is the key to being competitive in today's job market."

Montanans had consistently given "broad, bipartisan support" for the six-mill levy, she said.

Backers hope to raise up to $500,000 for its campaign, said coordinator Gordy Higgins.

About $16,500 is left from the 1998 campaign.

History of the education levy

Here are past results of the statewide property tax mill levy elections put before Montana voters to help finance the university system for a decade:

The current six-mill levy

1998: Passed, 61 percent to 39 percent.

1988: Passed, 64 percent to 36 percent.

1978: Passed, 67 percent to 33 percent.

1968: Passed, 59 percent to 41 percent.

1958: Passed, 52 percent to 48 percent.

1948: Passed, 61 percent to 39 percent.

A 3.5-mill levy

1940: Passed, 53 percent to 47 percent.

The 1.5-mill levy

1930: Passed, 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent.

1920: Passed, 54 percent to 46 percent.

A one-mill levy

1914: Defeated, 62 percent to 38 percent.