WHY I AM VOTING 'NO' ON THE SCHOOL TAX
I have been reading a good many position papers on the upcoming school board ballot referendum requesting that the 1-mil increase be extended again for an additional four years.
Most simply regurgitate the school board position without much, if any, challenge thereto. We all want the best education for our children and have demonstrated our past willingness to pay the price. But the more you look into just how they are spending taxpayer money and how they dissemble to push their agenda, the more you come to the conclusion they are abusing the trust we have placed in them.
They have created an "Us vs. Them" environment which is most unhealthy. Throwing money at a problem isn’t always the best solution. Consider:
1. In 2006, when this tax was to be extended, the school superintendent and his school board lied that the student population was to increase when, in fact they had a report showing it would decrease. When challenged, Gary Norris and the board members commented that they feared that disclosure would adversely impact passage of the tax extension. That is deplorable.
2. The March special election, the timing of which greatly favors those supporting the tax extension, is estimated to cost around $500,000. What a waste of money and a transparent trick to aide passage of the tax extension.
This gimmick was challenged in 2006 and I seem to recall the district officials and school board stating it was necessary "this time" but they would be sure to include it in a general election if requested in future years. They didn’t. It was apparently better to waste a half million of tax dollars to improve their chances with the tax extension. Yet, they want us to believe they are good stewards of our tax dollars!
3. I also recall that, in 2006, the school board members, in lobbying for the operating expense tax extension, assured the voters that these dollars would not be used for recurring expenses. That made sense since the tax had a four-year life. But that also was not true. Now they whine that failure to pass this "temporary tax" will require them to cut essential staff. How could they use a money stream with a four-year life to fund the hiring of additional staff? That is, at best, mismanagement. It was also unfair to those teachers hired with these dollars when the administration well knew the money might go away in four short years.
4. In trumpeting their "fiscal discipline," school executives stated proudly that all salary increases were to be frozen during these recent tough times. What a misrepresentation! Under their "step" system the steps were not raised, but employees are moved up a step! So, employees’ pay did actually increase. While taxpayers are struggling, school employees are just "going up a step!" Every year. What a weasely way to mislead Sarasotans.
5. School employees get "sick days" for use in case of illness. A fair and sensible perk. But it is my understanding that, if these are not used over the years, they can be cashed in upon leaving the school system at the current salary (step?) level. This has led to several instances of employees leaving Sarasota with five-figure rewards … of taxpayer dollars. What was a compassionate perk has been turned into another wasteful entitlement.
6. Longevity bonuses are given employees just for hanging around. They appear to begin in as few as 10 years. Payments every year for doing nothing more than showing up! Last year these "entitlements" totaled $8.5 million! You can bet that next year they will be even higher!
7. Over the years, like many of my fellow taxpayers, my largest single expense has been health care insurance. But school employees get their medical coverage plus dental plus vision plus-plus for nothing! So, taxpayers pay for their own medical insurance and for a "Cadillac" plan of medical insurance for teachers as well! Excuse me, but this sure doesn’t seem equitable!
8. If you compare your latest property tax bill to the one from the year before, you will note that Sarasota County held its tax millage rate steady; it recognized these difficult times and tightened the budget. Yet, the school board increased its millage charge to you by almost 5.5 percent. You don’t hear mention of that nugget of information in the pro-tax presentations.
So, I am opposed to extending this 1-mil school tax unless and until the school board members and executives get "our" fiscal schoolhouse in order and tell the truth to Sarasota taxpayers who are footing the bills. At a minimum they need to rebalance their compensation practices to reward merit far more than longevity. I am sorry if resulting cutbacks cause some school employees to lose their positions. Many in the private sector have already felt that pain. Any anger should be directed at school executives who provided the employees with what were thought to be career opportunities but were paid for with funds known to be temporary.
James P. Herbert
CPA, REALTOR®
WRITER BELIEVES SWIER WAY OFF-BASE IN VIEWS
I am moved to comment on Rich Swier’s point No. 1 (letter to the editor, Feb. 25), as it defies basic economics.
Rich asserts that "Extending the referendum will take $150 million to $200 million out of the seriously depressed economy." This is just not correct.
Sixty-one percent of the Sarasota County Schools’ budget is spent on salaries alone. The teachers (for the most part) live in Sarasota County, so that money is pumped right back into the local economy.
The rest of the budget is used to purchase benefits and services, fund charter schools, maintain schools, etc. – the majority of which is also spent locally.
So Rich’s No. 1 point is wrong. If you want to make an economic argument, then I think our period of depressed economy is exactly not the time to take 11 percent of the funds away from the schools. Doing so will impact our kids’ education and the desirability of our community (to save $100 per $100,000 of assessed value?) – both of which are solid investments in our economic future.
Andy Nilssen, MBA
GROUP MISLEADING PEOPLE ON SCHOOL TAX
Americans for Prosperity should stand for Americans for Preposterous thinking. The Sarasota County Public Schools’ special 1-mil tax on the March 16 ballot is not a hike. It is the same tax that we have had since 2002.
Florida does not impose an income tax as most of the other states do. We have to vote on this tax, and we get crazy people like those in AFP saying this would add to our taxes when it would not.
Let’s not let our kids and housing go down the toilet because of ignorant people touting scare tactics.
Teachers make nothing as it is, and Florida teachers are really underpaid.
Help us keep the teachers that we have and not have our educators flee the state and dump their houses in the process. Keep Florida alive!
Do not let our kids suffer because a penny tax is too much. Come on people: Our kids are our future!
P.G. Kin
VOTE 'YES' ON SCHOOL TAX FOR THE ECONOMY
I have followed the debate taking place in the community as to to whether the school district needs the 1-mil tax renewed.
In these economic times when we all are struggling to maintain our businesses and to support our households it is understandable that there is opposition in some quarters to continuing to support our schools. However, if we are concerned about Sarasota’s economic future, it is imperative that we vote "YES" on March 16 to continue the tax.
If we want jobs for our citizens, we have to recognize that progressive businesses do not want to relocate to a county with a failing school system. As a community, we have made a long-term commitment to build our house of education to the highest standards possible.
In order to protect values of our homes and businesses, the Sarasota County School System is a lynchpin of economic vitality that sets us apart from so many other places.
The vote on March 16 is about the long-term sustainability of Sarasota. A vote "YES" is a vote for all of our economic futures.
Tom Dabney
President
Argus Foundation
KICKING GAYS OUT OF MILITARY A DISGRACE
We as a nation need to rethink our policy of kicking highly skilled and highly qualified gay men and women out of the U.S. Armed Forces.
When we do so, when we tell Americans who are willing to sacrifice for us that they are not tolerated in our armed forces, we are doing both them and our country and national security a grave disservice. Former Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff Gen. John Shalikashvili stated, ""Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job."
Current Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen has said, "We have in place a policy that forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity: Theirs as an individual, ours as an institution."
More than 13,000 Americans willing and eager to defend the US have been forced out since 1993. Who are these soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines? Well, one is a lieutenant colonel and a decorated Air Force fighter pilot on whom American taxpayers have spent about $25 million for training.
Then there are the gay linguists whom our nation desperately needs, who have been outed and forced to leave. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has found that the necessary cadre of U.S. intelligence linguists skilled in regional languages such as Pashto, Dari and Urdu "remains essentially nonexistent." and that ""Persistent critical shortages in some languages contribute to the loss of intelligence information and affect the ability of the intelligence community to process and exploit what it does collect."
The fact is that dozens of highly able and skilled linguists who are gay are kicked out of the US military while we are facing a shortage of those who can do these critical jobs.
The nation of Israel, surrounded by multiple enemies, allows gay men and women to serve openly in the Israeli military.
One day we will look back at the purge of gay men and women from our military the same way we look at the U.S. military not allowing African-Americans to serve in anything but menial jobs. How many Colin Powells had no opportunity for advancement and now how many future generals, colonels and sergeant majors are kicked out before they can reach those levels, because they are gay?
Robert Snipes
March 10th 2010 - 4:48PM