By Greg Halbleib
CLINTON – The announcement of plans to close the Clinton nuclear power plant adds to the uncertainty of state funding of Clinton schools.
Without the Exelon plant in the district’s tax base, general state aid is supposed to increase, but Clinton school superintendent Curt Nettles says state government is in disarray.
“I myself and a lot of people have absolutely no confidence in what’s going on down in Springfield,” said Nettles. “We’re going to try to plan accordingly to what it should be, and try to be optimistic that the state’s going to get its act together to get us a state budget so we know what we have starting the next school year.
Nettles tells WJBC’s Terry James that Clinton’s school tax rate has been low, and he and the school board will educate the community on how the plant’s closure could affect tax bills. Nettles says it may take a while to see the effects of the planned closure of the Clinton nuclear power plant.
“Our enrollment probably will go down,” said Nettles, “but we may also see an increase in low-income students because of it.”
Nettles says the Exelon plant represents about half of the Clinton school district property tax base. Clinton school officials are crunching numbers to educate the district’s residents about the effects of the planned closure of the Clinton nuclear power plant, including how it might affect tax bills.
“What it boils down to is this is the tax rate we’ve had,” said Nettles about the information that will be developed for taxpayers. “If you want to keep all of the programs currently in place, this is the type of tax rate it would take.”
Nettles says the school board will have to decide on any tax rate increase after community input.
Greg Halbleib can be reached at greg@wjbc.com.
