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Somehow we never thought we would see the day we would tell anyone to vote "no" on a school tax. That day has come, brought to us courtesy of Anthony Olivis and his blood-thirsty cronies. Here are some interesting facts about Colbert funding for schools:
* According to School Digger, Colbert County ranks 86th out of 123 school systems in Alabama. Yet they receive more tax dollars than 92 percent of those same school districts. They are wasting our money. Now, they want more of YOUR money to throw at the problem in the hope it will simply go away. Make sure you go VOTE NO on Tuesday, May 26th on the proposed 27% property tax increase in Colbert County. Let the School Board know they need to learn to use the money they have wisely before asking the voters for more!
* Colbert County Schools spends MORE tax dollars per student than 92% of school systems in Alabama, yet they rank LOWER than 70% of schools in the state academically? This tax increase would put Colbert County Schools in the 95th percentile in Per Pupil Expenditure, according to new numbers release last week by the Alabama State School Board, even though they currently spend more than 130% as much per student than the median. If we aren't seeing results at these outrageous levels, why would we expect to see any better results by throwing even more money at the problem?
* The May 26th Special Election to vote on the proposed 27% Property Tax increase in Colbert County will cost the voters between $30,000 and $40,000. If this election had been held last November with the rest of them, it would have been completely free. If the County School Board is going to waste tens of thousands of dollars on a low-turnout election, why should we trust them with more of our tax dollars?
* Colbert County Superintendent Anthony Olivis has been telling people that this is only a 10% tax increase, not a 27% tax increase. Depending on how you look at it, this could be true. If you lump all property taxes together, you get 30 mills, which this vote would increase by 10% if passed. However, this is not what is being voted on. We are voting on the county district-level property tax for the school board, which is currently 11 mills. The tax being increased is being increased by 27%. With no other type of tax increase would you lump everything together and use the smaller percentage. If a municipality had a 2c sales tax rate and wanted to raise it by .5c, nobody would lump it in with all the other sales taxes - they'd naturally see it as a 25% tax increase, as they are measuring that on the tax actually being increased. This is merely an attempt to make the tax sound less burdensome than it is. Even if we went with the Superintendent's number, it would still constitute a 22% total property tax increase over a 2-year period. Whether it is 10% or 27%, it is too much! We are taxed too much already, and our families are hurting. We can't afford to pay more money to a massively mismanaged school board.
*Finally, a previous blog: Olivis Seeks More Tax
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It would seem without Robert Montgomey's guidance, the graduation at Colbert Heights Elementary was less grand than usual, but at a higher dollar price. We've received some complaints. Our initial opinion?
The kids will live no matter if they were robbed or not. The parents are the ones who feel cheated. Make your voice heard at the polls...on Tuesday and at the next school board election.
Shoalanda