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Third‑party review presented to Cherokee County Board of Education backs prior homestead exemption opt‑out
Summary
STAAP LLC told the Cherokee County Board of Education on Sept. 18 that, under its assumptions (2.4% cap, 6% exemption growth), the district's opt‑out of a floating homestead exemption was defensible and projected a roughly $250 million gap in revenue between 2025 and 2030 compared with the baseline used in earlier district estimates.
The Cherokee County Board of Education heard a third‑party validation of its earlier decision to opt out of the state's floating homestead exemption on Sept. 18, when representatives from STAAP LLC presented data showing the long‑term revenue gap that can arise under the law's growth cap.
"Based on those assumption and our calculation, we estimated the revenue loss avoided between 2025 and 2030 to be about $250,000,000," said Kennedy, the STAAP analyst who presented data validation results. Kennedy said the review used a 2.4% cap assumption for statutory taxable‑value growth and a 6% assumption for market growth and exemption growth.
The superintendent, Dr. Davis, told the board the district had reviewed the report and identified three drivers of differences between the district's January 2025 projection and STAAP's results: updated baseline data, differing assumptions about exemption growth, and different growth‑rate assumptions. "Our CCSD projection that we used in January '25 was 54,900,000," Dr. Davis said, noting the consultant's out‑year outlook showed a substantially larger shortfall.
Board discussion focused on the statutory growth cap and modeling choices. Board member Mr. Bean asked whether using a higher cap — 4%–6% rather than 2.4% — would change outcomes; Kennedy replied that the projection depended on exemption growth outpacing the statutory taxable‑value growth under the 2.4% cap. Mr. Bean later addressed the community: "We trusted, but we also verified," he said, calling the decision difficult but asserting the independent validation supported the board's prior action.
STAAP also compared its figures to earlier Department of Finance calculations and attributed a roughly $10 million three‑year difference (through 2027) primarily to different baseline data and the cap assumption. The presenters told the board that public notices, hearings and filings related to the opt‑out process had been performed in compliance with statutory procedures.
The board did not take a new vote during this work session; presenters and board members framed the consultant's report as validation of an earlier decision to opt out. The superintendent and board members said they will continue community engagement and monitoring as the district moves forward.
What happens next: the district has the report posted on its website and board members said they will continue to share findings with the public and legislative partners.
