Student needs worth price tag of bonds
A recent letter complained about the school bonds requiring a "tax increase of this size." The student population of Guilford County's public schools is increasing at 1,300 students each year. Providing a safe place for these children to attend school requires building the equivalent of one new high school or two new elementary schools every year.
On May 6, the voters will be asked to approve $457 million of bonds for schools ($45 million for 1,100 students at Eastern High School and $412 million for 5,900 students in five other new schools, plus renovations/expansions to 15 existing schools).
Repaying these bonds does require a tax increase. Although the tax impact will be lower in years before and after 2012, the maximum property tax impact will occur in the year 2012 when all of the $457 million of school bonds have been issued. In that peak year, Guilford County officials estimate that the school bonds will increase the taxes on a house valued at $200,000 by $160 per year.
That is about the same amount of money as one Big Mac from McDonald's per week or one latte from Starbucks per week. Providing good, safe schools for 7,000 students is certainly worth that amount.
Frank Kendall
Greensboro
Comments (3)
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Mr. Kendall, do not pound me over the head with your pathetic plea for me to vote myself a tax increase. The people you should be pounding is the county commissioners and the school board. These are the people elected to see that our children have a clean and safe environment to learn. Until they show me that they can spend my money wisely I will not support any bonds. It is not the taxpayers fault that our elected officials turned a blind eye to our population increases, ignored our outdated schools, and wasted the very monies collected to pay for the schools. No one has explained to me why it cost Guilford county 10 to 15 million more to build a school than Forsythe. The eastern high school debacle was the last straw for me, and now the school board is pushing for the power to raise taxes as they see fit. I DON'T THINK SO.
Posted on March 13, 2008 10:21 AM
I, too, will be casting a "NO" vote for the bond issues. No kids.
Posted on March 13, 2008 12:03 PM
Schools set the stage for successful and fulfilling futures. Investing in their future is an investment in yours. There are issues with the commissioners and the BoE and there needs to be changes. The way you do that is to go to the County Commissioners meeting and the BoE meeting and voice your concerns. Vote for representives that you believe will support your positions. Run yourself. However, I have children in these schools and the schools are dying from 30, 40 years of neglect and swelling student populations where close to 30% of the student population is in mobile suburbs. There is a cost to maintaining and expanding our school system and it is a burden we should all proudly share. The bond is a life line for these schools. The ones you are hurting by voting no to this bond is my children and all the children in GC. Voting no to this bond will have no impact on the commissioners or BoE. You need to have face to face dialog and direct written correspondence to get your point across. Be an active proponent for the GC children. I am at the BoE meetings and the CC meetings trying my best to make a difference and I will continue to do so. It is a slow process but I keep digging. Our schools need this funding.
Posted on March 16, 2008 12:13 PM