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(1) My property taxes will go up! Fact, because property taxes will rise with the passage of the millage proposals. The amount of that increase depends on the State Equalized Value (S.E.V.) and, if applicable, the homestead allowance of your real property. The 3 bond proposal millage requests are detailed in the 3 bond proposals. After taking into account the S.E.V. and a homestead allowance, the total annual increase in taxes will be the product of the taxable value of the property and the total of the passed millage rates. The prospective voter can determine the future costs of the proposals by finding the "taxable value" on each property tax bill and multiplying the "taxable value" by (if all propositions pass) 3.21 + 0.50 + 0.67 = 4.38 mills for each dollar of taxable value. A mill is a monetary unit equal to 1/1000 of a U.S. dollar or 1/10 of a cent. 4.38 mils is the equivalent of $4.38 for each $1,000 of taxable value. Example: An empty city lot with a taxable value of $1,000 could see an annual tax increase of: $1,000 x 0.00438 = $4.38 (2) It makes no difference to me! My kids are grown up and I have no relatives in school! Fiction, because a community's progressive education facilities makes a difference to everyone. The value of most property, and the quality of life to most individuals, is directly related to the availability of goods and services within a given community. That availability of goods and services makes a community more desirable. The more desirable a neighborhood is, the greater the demand for property and the greater the selling price. For a community to become, or be, dynamic, a good competitive school system is a must. Working family folk, with children, drive the economy and carry the retired on their backs. If you deny their children, you drive away and alienate the most dynamic and productive portion of the labor force. Its biting the hand that feeds you, when you are retired, and it slows the appreciation of your property. As a general rule, in a progressive community, the increase in a property's value, realized at the time of sale, more than offsets the property tax investment in local schools. Property values make a difference to everyone regardless of whether you want to sell property, borrow money against it or will it to kin... (3) Let someone else pay for the schools; I paid for my kids' education. Fiction, most likely, because most folk do not pay for their own children's primary or secondary education. During the time that children go to school, parents pay only a fraction of the bill, the other fractions are paid for by other tax payers. The system of public education, in the U.S., is based on a continuous shared cost concept whereby everyone pays a percentage of their material success, every year, to keep the system running. It is a continuous collective effort. It may not be perfect, but it has, to a great degree, helped to keep the U.S. at the top of a predatory global power structure, which helps secure your future when you are most vulnerable, old and feeble. |