To the editor:
It is clear that Franklin Community School Corp. board members fear a majority of district residents oppose raising the property tax levy to pay for building debt and teacher salaries. Otherwise, they never would have proposed scheduling a referendum when a significant portion of the public has no reason to go to the polls.
As reported in the Daily Journal on Feb. 9, the board proposes to schedule the vote for this May’s partisan municipal primary. On the Republican ballot are five contested races — city court judge, city council districts 1, 3 and 5 and city council at-large. There are no Democratic races. This means that there is little reason for Democrats or independents to come to the polls at all.
In addition, voters who live in Needham, Franklin and Union townships but outside the Franklin city limits would have no other reason to drive to a Franklin polling location except to cast a ballot in the tax-rate referendum.
It would appear the board is deliberately taking an approach that would at least indirectly suppress voter turnout, meaning only those voters who feel strongly about the issue are likely to cast ballots.
Those who have an opinion one way or the other but have no other reason to go the polls might be tempted to look past the primary despite the importance of the tax-rate proposal.
Research has shown that school tax referenda are more likely to pass during primary elections than during general elections. The researchers concluded that primaries bring out the most interested voters. So it would follow that a referendum during a municipal primary would be even more likely to pass. If the Franklin school board truly believed district residents would support a tax increase, the members would schedule it not during a municipal primary or even a municipal general election but during a general election that would involve ALL of the district’s eligible voters.
Board members will argue there is a need for quick action to solve a financial crisis, but the problems have been building for several years. The best solution might well be an increase in the tax rate. But in the best interest of the district voters, any referendum should be scheduled for a time when the greatest number of people are focused on the election, not when the fewest are.
If the Franklin school board wants to avoid an appearance of stacking the deck in favor of city Republicans and against rural residents, the members need to schedule a referendum for fall 2020.
Richard Gotshall
Franklin
