Naked City

› Time for a Tax Rollback Election? Austin Independent School District Superintendent Meria Carstarphen added another 87 jobs to the list she wants to cut before the new school year, bringing the total to 1,104. Even prior to this latest escalation, announced on Feb. 21, Education Austin co-President Ken Zarifis dismissed the district's claims that it can restructure through natural attrition and then rehire staff for new positions, as it did during the 2003 reduction in force. "We're in a very different landscape right now," he said. "If they can hire 500 of the 1,017 back into the force, the district is going to be doing really well." Rather than slash jobs, Education Austin is calling for trustees to do what they planned to do last fall – set a tax rollback election and ask voters to raise the property tax rate to offset falling property values. In 2010 the board refused to bring the issue to voters, claiming they would reject it because around half of all new money would go to the state under the "Robin Hood" education finance recapture rules. Zarifis rejected that argument and said, "If we go for a five-cent TRE now or we go for a five-cent TRE three years from now, we're still going to be dealing with recapture." The AISD board of trustees is scheduled to vote on a declaration of financial exigency, which will allow them to cut positions, on Feb. 28. For more on AISD's budget crisis, see "City, AISD Look for School Fixes." – R.W.