This report examines the Tennessee state-local tax structure to determine whether tax inequities have given rise to a situation in which taxes have contributed to an inadequate or inequitable flow of financial resources to the public schools. It investigates the possibility that some structural changes in the tax system might improve both tax…

This report presents an analysis of the fiscal ability and effort of counties in Tennessee to support public education with alternative formulas for measuring relative ability to pay. Chapter 1 is a review of related literature that provides a background for tracing the development of the rationales used in fiscal capacity measures. It has two…

The effort-ability index is a means of drawing together the two concepts of effort (reflected by revenue collections and per pupil expenditures) and ability (both to provide for nonschool expenditure functions and for school purposes) to provide a measure of a local government's need for state assistance. In constructing an effort-ability index…

Ways of measuring the fiscal capacity of school systems are examined in this paper, which presents a representative tax system model. Fiscal capacity is influenced by factors other than tax base size; the "ideal" model should address adjustments for variations in cost across communities and school systems. The first section examines the…

This document presents findings of a General Accounting Office (GAO) study that reviewed the experiences of three states that had recently reformed their school-finance systems to make them more equitable. Case studies of Tennessee, Texas, and Minnesota were conducted. Methodology included a review of school finance documents and legislative…

As part of a continuing effort to assess the social impacts on communities of energy facility planning, construction, operation, and decommissioning, a May 1977 survey of 37 community leaders in Hartsville, Tennessee (site of a nuclear power plant) establishes major local issues (past, present, and future) which leaders feel are important to…

In 1988, 66 of Tennessee's rural school districts brought suit against the state government claiming that the school funding system of a local option sales tax discriminates against rural areas. This study examines the effects of increased reliance on local sales tax revenue on Tennessee's school expenditures. Not every county can support a major…