Car tag sales benefit all school districts in Oklahoma

Here’s an example — and good news — of a little form of financial carpooling.

Does the school district in which you buy your car tag receive a larger portion of that money? Or is all the tag money prorated to the schools?

Lee, Oklahoma City

Each of the state’s 530-plus school districts benefits from license tag fees, Lee, no matter where the tag was bought.

Paula Ross of the Oklahoma Tax Commission says money from tag sales is prorated and divided among the state’s school districts to be fair.

Years ago, she says, it wasn’t that way.

Until the late ’80s, only the district in which the tag was bought — or sold, depending upon which side of the counter you’re on — got money from the sale. You can see how lopsided that was, Lee, with large urban districts collecting the big bucks while a small rural district got a pauper’s share.

The larger, more heavily populated areas definitely had the advantage in funding, getting whopping numbers from property taxes, too.

But legislators and education officials worked to help even the playing field proportionately — and did.

While I generally would rather detour than talk about lawmakers, I have to admit, that seems to be one of the better things they’ve done.

By the way ...

Money from license tag fees obviously isn’t enough to cover expenses relating to schools and students in Oklahoma.

There are other sources to help. Particularly, ad valorem taxes and the state lottery have contributed significantly.

Enjoy your week and drive safely.