I would like to add my voice of opposition against passage of School District 51’s Initiatives 3A and 3B. These very expensive tax increase will, if passed, adversely affect us all, whether you own your own home or pay rent.

If this large tax increase seems fair to you, consider this. This will mean hundreds of dollars less in your pocket each year that you won’t have available to pay for things like health care, groceries, or gasoline. For those persons on fixed incomes, this burden will be especially devastating!

The school district has always had a number of other funding options available. I believe that board members consistently choose property tax increases because they’re easy, they’re fast, and they require little thought or effort. To be successful, the school district needs only to make you feel guilty.

I personally would have been more inclined to support an amendment that provided for the funding of schools by a relaxation of the Tabor Amendment, with existing tax dollars going towards school funding. Or additional taxes imposed on energy companies. After all, growth in the oil and gas industry has created this problem by bringing more people to this area.

I think it’s unconscionable that the School District values a structure more highly than it values us and our families. Ask yourselves, what good is a new school if its funding comes at the expense of driving children and their parents from their homes because they can no longer afford to pay their property tax bill? Please, vote NO on Initiatives 3A and 3B!

R.D. TROUTNER
Grand Junction

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 4:30 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.