Re: School board to ask for 82 cents tax increase Archived Message
Posted by Opie2 on November 19, 2014, 4:57 pm, in reply to "Re: School board to ask for 82 cents tax increase"
I always like these threads because they have the possibility of opening up some good informative debate. Of course, it helps if the facts are correct before the debate begins. According to the Greenwald letter on the web site the schools are asking for .80 not .82 cent increase on $1,000 of your home valuation. In my case, my home is probably worth $190,000, my increase would amount to approximately $500 more a year or roughly $10 more a week, or a once a week breakfast for me and Mrs. O. at Denny's. So based on those FACTS, here's one man's opinion. Yes, if there is room to cut expenses it should be done prior to asking the residents for more money. If memory serves, and it doesn't so much any longer, the board closed Niedringhaus last year and made other cuts somewhere near two million dollars. Is there more room for cuts? I'd like to hear some ideas and forget the unions giving back anything they already have. That won't happen and we all know it. Greenwald hints at some potential cuts in his letter such as no band, no vocational classes and even class size increases. Are these the kind of cuts that we as parents and grandparents want for our kids and grandkids? I can't imagine my grandchildren in a school were they didn't have a chance to play in the band or on a sport team or where their teacher tried to control25-40 kids. I see the schools as an important cog in the wheel of our city. Like them or not, call them thieves and overpaid, gripe and complain, We have that right to complain I guess. The question is, what does it solve? Every district in down state IL is having problems due to the nightmare created by Blagoyevich and Quinn. They created a system where local districts will drown without local help. Personally I worry what will happen if the schools get any more negative issues to overcome. My kids probably won't raise their kids here because of all the things other districts near here offer that Granite doesn't any longer. When you deplete the home buying population you turn home values over to the rental population and that's not good for resale value. At this point having heard nothing from anyone as to how the board can increase revenue and/or realistically reduce cost, I'll vote yes. However, I'll also be watching and if, after this passes, the board gives away big raises or goes on a spending spree, they'll be held accountable by many of us. Looking forward to a good FACT filled debate on this one. Thank you to the site operators for providing this forum. Without a local paper it's hard to hear about things like this.
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