A disappointing sidelight to the Lawrence school board’s decision to call an April 1 election to raise taxes to fund the district’s local option budget was the board’s lack of communication or cooperation on the issue with city or county commissioners.

During their discussions Monday night, the majority of school board members seemed unconcerned about conferring with city commissioners, who have been kicking around the idea of asking voters to approve a sales tax increase to fund city services. Not only is the school election likely to have a significant impact on the city’s ability to gain approval for a sales tax increase, but there may have been possibilities to craft a sales tax proposal that directs some of the revenue to the school district’s budget.

Instead of considering those factors, school board members decided to move ahead without further discussion and, somewhat cavalierly, invited the city to add a sales tax proposal to the April 1 ballot. There was no concern for the fact that the city probably wouldn’t be able to move that quickly on a sales tax proposal or that the pairing of two tax increases on a single ballot could easily be a death knell for both proposals.

Some comments at the board meeting, however, revealed a communication issue for which the board and city commissioners probably share responsibility. School board members expressed frustration that meetings with city officials usually focus on infrastructure issues but not on other issues related to education. Mayor Sue Hack later agreed that often was the case and pledged to work with School Board President Linda Robinson to try to remedy the situation.

This dissension is a far cry from the cooperation that often has been exhibited among the schools and city and county government. A key example of that was an election in November 1994. On the ballot that month, was a $37 million bond issue to fund construction of what is now Free State High School and make improvements to other district schools. Knowing that the school district was planning to seek funding for a new high school and could only get that money through a property tax increase, city and county officials turned to a sales tax to fund other important needs. On the same ballot as the bond issue was a 1 percent countywide sales tax to fund parks, a new county jail, new health facilities and property tax relief. Both questions were approved.

Concerns about taxes and the nation’s current economic downturn might make such a double-tax victory difficult today, but the success in 1994 came in no small part because taxpayers saw the three units of local government working together in a responsible manner.

Douglas County, the city of Lawrence and the Lawrence school district have a number of separate responsibilities, but they also have a great many common interests. The common good of the entire community – and its taxpayers – is best served when they recognize those interests and work together to address them.