Just say NO!
No more taxes.
They have at least 1.3 billion dollars in the bank now and they want more.
They don't need anymore!
They need to use what they have. The idiots from up north Jersey, New York, CT and other yankee enclaves are running for the south because of SALT. Yet the idiots want to bring their idiotic policies with them. When asked why we need to tax property O'Mally answered that is how we did it in Jersey???
All of those states use to pass on their sky high property taxes to all of us by shifting the federal burden. They no longer can do that so they can't afford 40-60-100k in property taxes on house.
That is the first thing.
The second is we are getting kids that can pencil in a bubble and think its ok for a woman to have a "addadicktoome" men too use a woman bathroom, but can't balance a check book, know which end of a shovel digs, think cooking means to go to Cook Out, they can't list 15 elements of the periodic table, they can't list any 2 of the bill of rights, name 3 of the 7 continents, or know how many branches of government we have.
Oh! Not too mention Siri has become their god. They walk around like mindless zombies. They act like they have all been abused and refuse to look you in the eye. How to go to a job interview? Forget that! I'm trying to figure out what they actually teach anymore. Seems like they are nothing more than a glorified baby sitting service.
When they are turned loose at 18 they are useless to the workforce and or society.
They should be ready to tackle life head on. When the school system starts doing that, and is about to run out of money maybe we can discuss raising taxes.
We are not getting any sort of return on the current investment. As a matter of fact it is getting worse! So until they can show that they can in fact they can turn the young skulls full of mush into critical thinkers who can make it outside of moms basement on their own the idiots wanting to raise our taxes I got 2 words for you:
Political theorist, founding father, and our third American president Thomas Jefferson said, “Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it”.
I write not to pass judgement nor advocate for a particular outcome. I simply ask the people of Florence County School District 1 to consider all information available before voting in the school tax referendum on February 26. I’d like to furnish some critical information I think is paramount (and missing) to making a sound and informed decision.
I believe strongly that you can support our new superintendent, Dr O’Malley, and oppose this tax increase. I also believe you can support public education in our community and not support the 198 million dollar tax increase. I believe you can want what’s absolutely best for our local economy and citizenry and challenge why our public school system needs more money. I believe all this because I’ve dedicated a substantial amount of energy and effort understanding this fairly complex scenario.
I’m a lifelong resident of Florence County and product of public education. My wife and two sons are as well. My daughter is a sophomore at West Florence high so this issue is important to me. I realize the significance of a better educated work force. Great schools will lead to a better community.
The past 15 years of my life has been in both the private and public sector as an elected official. I noticed very quickly that one of the biggest differences in these two orbits was the reaction to not meeting expectations or substandard performance. In the private sector the reaction was always, “is there something we’ve done to cause this”. In the public sector the typical response is, “we can fix this if we only had more money”. That can’t always be the answer. We the people must demand accountability for the manner in which tax dollars are spent. It’s your money.
If our school facilities are substandard and the quality of education in district 1 is negatively affected by these facilities, is it because of a lack of funding? That’s the only legitimate question there should be. None other leads to the just answer. Others will make you feel better. Some others will lead you to the conclusion you desire. But no other gets to the issue at hand.
Do we need more money? I honestly don’t know. Is the school district a good steward of current funds? Don’t know that either. Is the current plan being proposed going to improve the quality of education the best and most appropriate plan to consider? No idea. But these are the three essential and intertwined questions that the public deserves to have specific and detailed answers to before voting on a huge property tax increase.
Because I don’t have clarity on the three above referenced questions I will provide details on what I do know.
The school district collects 201.7 mills of school operating taxes. They also collect 31.5 mills of school bond taxes. These taxes account for about 71 percent of all ad valorem taxes collected by the county treasurer. If this proposed 35 additional mill increase is imposed it will mean nearly eighty cents of every dollar in district 1 directly funds our public schools. Is that too much? Not enough? I don’t know. It’s damn sure a lot.
There’s been much talk of the quality of schools and it’s correlation to economic development. I agree it’s important. Very important. I also argue that amongst the things that allow for velocity and growth in the economy raising taxes ain’t at the top of my list. This 198 million dollar referendum is the baseline. It doesn’t include origination fees, legal cost, administration, or debt service. The total cost to the taxpayer is 340 million dollars over 25 years. Or a little more than a third of a billion dollars. Let’s do some math together in regards to the impact on our local economy. 340 million over 25 years equals $13,600,000 per year that won’t be available to circulate in our local economy. Let’s go a step further. That’s $1,133,333 a month that is extracted from residents of our community to pay taxes instead of supporting local businesses through traditional consumerism. OVER A MILLION DOLLARS A MONTH. EVERY MONTH FOR 25 YEARS. Paying taxes instead of buying stuff. I’ve heard it said that it’s only a Pepsi a day or going out to eat a couple of times a month. Or two or three outfits of clothing a year. What if you sell Pepsi or own a local restaurant for a living? Or own a retail business that depends on discretionary income to provide jobs for your employees? Gets real doesn’t it?
Here’s where I get less factual and more opinionated. A sales tax is a much fairer and more equitable way to generate revenue for our government to provide services we’ve come to expect. The notion that a non property owner has autonomy and authority to raise taxes on property owners is clearly uneven and I’d argue a bit un-American. Taxation without representation ring a bell? It’s my opinion (not fact) that if we get clarity on the above fundamental questions and decide additional revenue is indeed necessary to provide a high quality education to our deserving young people, let’s exhaustively explore every sales tax avenue possible. I think it can be done.
In closing, I do believe in Dr O’Malley. I believe in public education. I believe it’s a cornerstone of advancement as a community. I’d love for ours to be a model for others to admire. I just can’t get satisfactory clarity on the pivotal and essential question. Is a lack of funds the problem with public school in district 1? Your vote is powerful. Put some thought and effort into it.
Ken Ard
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