The opinion of the Daily Post
This is not the time for school districts to ask the voters to raise their taxes, especially for new offices for administrators. Inflation is at a 40-year high and gas prices are hitting record levels. Middle- and low-income families are struggling to keep up.
It’s tone deaf for the Redwood City School District and the Sequoia Union High School District to be going to the voters with these tax increases.
Measure S
In Redwood City, Measure S would raise taxes by $240 a year for the owner of a home with a tax value of $1 million. What do you get for that money? Not a new school, but probably a new administration building.
Various classrooms will be improved, which is something that can wait until the recession ends. Good planning would have ensured that the buildings were renovated over time, and that the maintenance wasn’t deferred until now.
The fine print also mentions a new administrative office. That definitely can wait.
Measure W
In the Sequoia Union High School District, the board has put Measure W on the ballot, which asks people to raise their taxes by $140 a year for a house with a tax value of $1 million.
Measure W will raise $591 million for deferred maintenance. The board should have had the fiscal discipline to spend money on classroom improvements regularly over the years instead of saving it all up until now.
We strongly recommend “no” votes on Measures S and W.
Glad to see somebody is sticking up for taxpayers. These districts keep raising taxes, oblivious to the difficulties residents are facing with inflation, gas prices and diminishing 401(k)’s.
Another problem is that the construction companies have bankrolled these measures so they can get more work. If there was a dire need for the projects listed on the ballot, we would have heard about them by now. But this looks like an attempt to shovel money into the pockets of politically connected builders and architects. I’m voting NO!
I agree with the editorial. With rising inflation, this is the wrong time to ask people to shell out more money. No on W.
What a hollow attempt at an opinion
A majority of the taxes for school bonds are spent paying back the borrowed money plus interest. That’s 25-30+ years of interest. By the time the bond is paid off, they’ll say they’re going to have to do it again.
More than 96% of the campaigns for S & W were funded by DEVELOPERS (mostly out-of-town). Enrollment is down -15% and 16% of teachers quit last year, to the point where Roosevelt School had to shut down 6th grade. Furthermore, the school trustees at both districts report ALL school facilities are “Exemplary” or “Good” per the Student Accountability Report Card (SARC). So there’s plenty of room and the conditions are perfectly fine.
Bonds cannot be used for teachers or academic programs. Spending another $1.7 billion (the districts’ estimate of what S & W would cost taxpayers) on more buildings is wasteful and will do little to improve student performance which is where the real focus should be.
If that’s not reason enough, school bonds have no senior exemptions and double down on Prop 13 (so young folks who want to get into the market pay disproportionately more than old timers). Not fair and anti-housing.
Vote NO on S & W.
Neighboring districts ask voters again and again, for more tax dollars to fund malfeasance, and legal bills in my district. Lawyers love clueless administrators because they’ll spend bond funds defending them when they inevitably end up in court when remodeling fails to finish on time and on budget. Districts don’t care, its other people’s (yours) money. They promise oversight, not a penny for this or that. ONce they get their hands on it, kiss it g’bye