I am a 30-year county resident and property owner. I have owned and operated three successful small businesses. My wife and I are the parents of three adult children who attended D-49 schools and the grandparents of three current D-49 students. I am a former D-49 school board member, and have supported several of the past D-49 bond issues. Anyone who looks around our community can clearly see we are experiencing growth. So why am I urging you to VOTE NO on D-49 Issue 3-I?D-49 administration is asking for a 20 percent increase in your property tax for new school spending, a line item that is the largest single item on your annual property tax bill. And this 20 percent increase lasts for 32 years. (This is over and above last year’s tax rate plus the increases they get for growth plus inflation.)The D-49 administration intends to use certificates of participation (COPS) like El Paso County did to override the voters on the jail issue. Not an Idea that informed voters are likely to feel good about.Some say the voters turned down a smaller TABOR override by D-49 two years ago because they were apathetic or just didn’t care about kids, or selfishly didn’t want more property tax to pay. The voters weren’t apathetic at all. Many of those who voted no did not want a blank check override to the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). Once again, this new ballot Issue (3-I), is a blank check override. Read it. It says they can spend the whole 72 million for salary increases, or whatever the five-member school board wants. The wording does not require them to build a single school building. That’s just an invitation to disaster.By D-49’s own admission, the ballot issue is for over a quarter of a BILLION dollars ($272,000,000.00), and remember it’s all over our bonding capacity, (or put another way, it’s over and above D-49’s state-mandated credit limit). Those bonding limits are put on districts as a safeguard to prevent financial disasters to the property owners and taxpayers.I have a message for D-49 administrators and elected school board members. I support D-49 teachers and our students. Show me a properly worded specific ballot issue that is within our bonding capacity, and I will likely support it. Ask for another “Bill of Rights ” override worded like a blank check, and responsible voters will continue to vote NO.Mark S. Shook
