By Bruce Day Gardendale
The last bond election was flatly turned down by the voters. The voters here are pretty smart folks and have assumed the same about the Board. No one I know has been approached by anyone connected with the Board to ask why.
Why is such an important question, apparently the Board has assumed that they know the answer, I haven’t heard or read that it has been addressed. Voters in Ector County are more than a little upset about the public debt and every taxing body in the county wanting more money. The voters I know are aware of the importance of the public school system. Public debt aside, why did the voters turn the bond down?
The tax was turned down at a time when most of the voters who vote and were present to vote were also property owners. The transient laborers/workers, who come when the boom is on were gone. It was local; live here, property owners who turned down the tax increase. Who will pay the higher tax rates that come with the needed improvements? The property owners, not the renters or leasees, that’s right, you finally got it – property owners are feeling unfairly squeezed. The kids aren’t ours; we know a fix is needed. No one wants to see any child done wrong. Unfortunately the taxing method is unfair. It was a taxpayer revolt.
I haven’t had a child in the ECISD for over 20 years. I understand the benefits of everyone in the school system getting a quality education and how that positively affects me personally. All I hear is the money you got was a step in the right direction but not right enough and this time more money will cure it. It sounds like a broken record.
So, someone please tell me why it is right for me and those like me to bear the brunt of the bill while so many who will reap the greatest benefits pay nothing. Both problems (the school and the unfair taxation issue) need fixing. The non-taxpayers are back in droves. We’re outnumbered again. You may be able to get what you need along with what you want without addressing these issues, where do you stand? Raising taxes doesn’t seem to fix the problem. There are a lot of folks like me waiting for an answer.
