There they go again! The D-49 Board of Education is about to face a full-blown crisis of their own making. For a third year, D49 has stated it will again ask taxpayers to shoulder the burden of a 20 – 25 percent property tax increase (Mill Levy override). Yet D49 refuses to ask voters to approve a Bond referendum to build schools. A Bond is a more responsible choice for the taxpayer, as money must be used ONLY for specified items (new schools) and is capped by state law.Yes, developers must do more. Did you know that Developers voluntarily put nearly $30 million on the table? In return, they asked the Board to put a Bond referendum on the ballot (D49’s bonding capacity is near $50 million). Yet D49, using a “my way or the highway” approach, turned it down.Why are the developers offering to put up this much money? Developers are businessmen. They want to sell houses. Good schools sell houses. Poorly run, overcrowded school districts do not. Developers pay big money for market research, and they know that the only hope for new schools is a reasonably worded Bond. A bond issue approved by the voters will build some of the schools we need NOW. A Mill Levy that fails again will build NONE of them. No matter how much lipstick the Democrat strategists working for the district put on this MILL LEVEY pig, it’s still a pig and will not gain voter approval.Smart voters know that “true accountability” comes with a Bond, not a Tax Increase (Mill Levy).Bottom line, if we want any news schools actually built, we need a Bond that will pass, not a Mill Levy that will fail.Mark S. ShookD-49 parent and grandparent
