School’s out today, but new taxes are in

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Fayette County Board of Education voted to approve an occupational tax increase on Tuesday night to address a $16 million shortfall in the district’s budget for the upcoming school year.

The school district says this will cost taxpayers, on average, an extra $13 a month. It’s a decision that one Fayette County dad says is unnecessary.

“I love our teachers, all my kids, teachers have all been great,” said Greg Prince, a father of two Fayette County Public School students. “But the lack of transparency and the last minute stuff, you know, has been going on since I’ve been involved.”

Prince has been challenging Fayette County Public School’s administration for more than four years.

“This is a typical playbook, right? Is they kind of hide a problem and wait till it’s the last second and try to, like, jam it through, which is exactly what’s happening right now,” Prince said.

Prince started his advocacy journey during COVID-19 when he started the “Let Them Learn” Facebook group, which eventually turned into the “Fayette County Kids Matter” page.

He pushed the district to get kids back into the classroom during COVID-19. Although he’s fighting a separate issue now, his issues with the district remain the same.

“Are we getting, are we getting our value for the money? Definitely not,” Prince said.

The proposed budget is over $848 million.

Prince believes the reason it’s so high isn’t that the district has a revenue problem—it’s that they have a spending problem.

“Find places to cut. There’s all kinds of waste,” Prince said.

Meanwhile, the school district says they’ve already cut 20 percent from all district departments.

At the meeting where the tax increase was approved, Superintendent Dr. Demetrus Liggins pointed out how hard the board has been working for months to square away this budget.

However, others in the audience and on the school board said in Tuesday’s meeting that they were only notified of this idea on Saturday.

“Everyone’s going to have different thoughts and different opinions. That’s what make us who we are as a system, and we really, that’s the challenge the board has,” said Liggins.

While Prince’s kids’ school year may have ended on Wednesday, he says he will work through the summer to get the accountability he is looking for.

“Once you have kids, that’s all that matters, right? Their well-being, their education, their abilities to succeed in life and thrive,” Prince said. “We could be doing so much better with the money we spend here,” Prince said.