We need to work on those things we agree on, to stop paying all the bills that both the Texas Legislature and the Local School Districts keep passing on to us. We need to send this plate of bad pork back up the line every time they serve it up
Note: Dripping Springs ISD officials and school board members are welcome to send a letter and to chime in on the comments.
Send your comments and questions to roundup.editor@gmail.com, to Val Asensio at PropertyTaxAbuse@stopthehaystaxincrease.com or click on the "comments" below the letter
An Open Letter
"The House is On Fire"
First, I'd like to thank Bob Ochoa, the editor of the Roundup for giving area residents a source of news and opinion. Austin Statesman doesn't cover DS, the DS Century News is irrelevant. I agree with the post-er (scroll down to story below this letter) who said we need to deal with the larger problem that leads to tax increases, but we need to deal with the house fire right now, which is this unwarranted 9% tax increase. Voting will start on Oct. 24.
Without lobbyists working on our behalf, we have a small chance to impact change, especially when most don't vote. How do we get the attention of the decision makers? We act to vote down a tax increase and we keep voting them down. Not because we hate anyone, or don't like this or that. We'll never agree on some things, but it doesn't matter. We need to work on those things we agree on, to stop paying all the bills that both the Texas Legislature and the Local School Districts keep passing on to us. We need to send this plate of bad pork back up the line every time they serve it up.
I've been at these school board meetings and haven't seen a lot of you there. I know that because the last one I went to was 99.99% for the tax increase and only myself making the argument that they need to possibly make some cuts to their budget before taxing us more. That was big fun. Believe me when I tell you: DSISD School Board and admin staff does not feel your pain. It's totally about their wants, right now. And they want more. It's still not clear to me how they're justifying it. They have a $16mil surplus. Their average administrator salary is $95K / year, higher than Austin's, and I could go on. They fired 11 janitors in a very public way. Wow. Talk about a cosmetic cut. It got a lot of press, though. It was a smoke screen. I feel bad for the janitors who were used as a political pawn. It's not fair.
In the meetings, School Superintendent Dr. Mard Herrick said that deeper cuts will only take place if the tax increase fails. You see, it's tax first, cut only if absolutely necessary. They have not made real cuts and won't unless the voters send a message. There's a tremendous amount of grousing and hopelessness here from commenters on this site. We don't have time for armchair bitching about things. Back it up, guys, with doing. If the residents of the 'burbs don't know about this - tell them. Blog, post to newsgroups, write letters the editor, post signs on telephone poles. This is our time to act. Now, not after the tax increase is voted in. I refuse to believe it's hopeless. The costs of just giving up are high and will continue to increase for anyone who owns property in DSISD.
I'm re-invigorated since attending the unpublished Executive Board Meeting yesterday, 10/13. Property owners are not a part of their decision making process. I sat there and said "It's not all about you, DSISD. We homeowners are hurting. Many are unemployed, under-employed, or like myself and my husband, our business revenue is down 40%."
You know what a nice lady told me in response, "If we don't raise taxes and the schools go downhill, I'll move and everyone else will, too (lots of nods of agreement in the room) and you'll lose 40% *more* revenue."
That's the response to your pain, and mine. I almost fell out of my chair. Of course, there will be *no* businesses in Drippin' if these guys keep raising taxes, but there's no connection with that reality, in that room anyway.
This is what we're dealing with. Open your checkbooks. There is no limit to what they want from you. Talk even commenced that the current $1.17 rate cap was "too restrictive." Among the school admin there was a clear longing for the old days of the $1.50 cap, and how that was too low.
The house is on fire and I'd really like to see some of y'all get on board with the StoptheHaysTaxIncrease website and movement. There’s so little time before early voting starts. Stop bitchin', Drippin'. Start acting. Let's do this.
All the Best,
Val Asensio
StoptheHaysTaxIncrease.com
13 comments:
Dear Val: May the force be with you. There are those who are watching. I will not vote for this tax increase. There are too many lose screws.
The paucity of local reporting is unfortunate. But it's not really a surprise. The Statesman is pro tax and bond. If you didn't know, the DS Century-News is kissin' cousins to the local chamber and you know where the chamber's going, you heard it at the school board meeting.
I wonder what the majority of business owners in town really think. Do they want to pay more taxes on their business and property?
Pay attention! It's called the Chamber of COMMERCE -- not the Chamber of Civic Good Deeds. The business people who are the Chamber of Commerce and City Council clamor for growth only because they want more customers for their goods and services. Growth enriches only shops and real estate agents, but all taxpayers foot the bill through higher property taxes required to provide schools, roads, and other services for the added population.
Who cares about the tax increase. How good is the football team?
To Dripping Springers who live in the Mystic Creek subdivision:
I hope you are aware that on Nov. 1 the Commissioners Court will hold "a public hearing to consider: 1) the proposed improvement to Mystic Creek Drive and Mystic Overlook within the Mystic Creek Subdivision in Hays County to cause the roadway to comply with Hays County road standards, and 2) the assessment of all or part of the costs of the improvement, pro rata, against the record owners of the real property of the Mystic Creek Subdivision." (from Public
Notice published in area newspapers)
In other words, someone in your area is asking the Commissioners to upgrade your roads and then charge you for the cost on your annual property tax bill. Only the few of you who live in the subdivision will bear the cost -- not all the taxpayers of Hays County. If this is not what you
want, you need to go to the Nov. 1 Court hearing and tell the Commissioners Court members.
Your commissioner is Ray Whisenant
(R-Dripping Springs), 858-7268, 195 Roger Hanks Parkway.
Part 1 of 3
Stay with me- I know this is long & detailed, but the truth can't be put in neat 10 second sound bites, everyone needs to understand the background.
Prop One will not raise anyone's taxes even the tiniest bit. It will, however, free up ~$400,000 a year so that it can be used for things teachers' salaries instead of continuing to pay high rates on the money that had to be borrowed several years back to pay for the mold remediation at Drippings Springs Elementary School. In addition, by moving it to the "other side" of the budget, they'll be able to get much lower interest rates, saving an additional ~$30,000 in interest charges per year. Think of it as changing from an overdue credit card payment to getting a home equity loan to pay off high cost credit card debt at a much lower rate.
Prop Two will have a tax impact. For the "average" value Dripping Springs home, it will mean an increase of around $23 a month. Now, I'm not crazy about paying more taxes, but this is a case where the Texas Legislature passed a bad bill when they did the "tax swap" that supposedly “buy down” our property taxes and by doing so, they short-changed the people of Texas. Because they did so, it is up to the local people to raise the funds the Legislature refused to raise by making big business pay its fair share. The Business Margins Tax was supposed to make up for all the property tax revenue that was lowered- but it didn't. Then Comptroller Carole Strayhorn sent a letter to Gov. Perry (which you can find online at http://www.window.state.tx.us/news/60515letter.html.) This letter spells out exactly what happened to the state, 4 years before it actually happened, but Perry blew her off as being "political" (since she was also running for governor.) It appears she was either a lot smarter than Perry or a lot more honest.
In her letter, Ms. Strayhorn wrote: "As the state's chief fiscal officer, it is my responsibility to spell out exactly what the Perry Tax Plan means to our state's fiscal integrity. As you have known since it was made public, your plan simply does not pay for itself. As of this moment, this legislation is a staggering $23 billion short of the funds needed to pay for the promised property tax cuts over the next five years.
In 2007, your plan is $3.4 billion short; in 2008 it is $4.3 billion short; in 2009 it is $5.4 billion short; in 2010 it is $4.9 billion short; and in 2011 it is $5 billion short. These are conservative estimates.
At best, your plan is a prelude to another huge tax bill in the next regular session, one that will not only be heaped on Texas businesses but will fall heavily on the same taxpayers you claim to be helping now. At worst, it will relegate Texans to Draconian cuts in critical areas like education and health care for at least a generation. This is not a victory for taxpayers. It is a sham, and Texans will see it for what it is.
There is no economic miracle that will close the gap your plan creates. Even if every single dollar of the current $8.2 billion surplus was poured into the plan, it would not cover the plan's costs for more than two years, 2007 and 2008. The gap is going to continue to grow, year by year. There are only two ways to close a chasm of that magnitude -- future tax increases that you are hiding from Texans now or massive cuts in essential state services -- like public education -- already devastated by your past fiscal indifference."
Pat 2 of 3
Read it again- she said it was setting Texas up for either a huge tax increase or "massive cuts" to our education and healthcare. Now, had people been paying attention, maybe Perry wouldn't have been re-elected that time or this last, but he was.
This is what Rick Perry did to schools, while saying he was "helping" property owners. It is short-term looking- refusing to look more than 1 year out, and now see what we have- 4 billion shortfall (based on the promises of the Legislature for funding to schools.) Since our State Constitution REQUIRES that our Legislature provide and fund schools, it is pretty clear they've failed miserably at their jobs. (ARTICLE 7:Sec. 1. SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE OF SYSTEM OF PUBLIC FREE SCHOOLS. A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools .")
For the first time ever, Texas is not funding growth, yet Texas adds ~80,000 students each year. For the new child who starts in my daughter's class on Thursday, that means that they will now have to make the money that funded the 18 children work to fund 19, meaning even less per student. As more and more people move to Dripping Springs, our schools will be hurt more and more due to the Texas Legislature's narrow-minded focus on ONY cutting taxes, rather than also raising some revenues. Every child who moves into our school has the potential to hurt all others- is that really the way we want to fund our schools?
Rick Perry's tax bill deliberately short-changed public schools, by the billions that Ms. Strayhorn predicted, the downturn on the economy didn't help, but the economy was not the cause of the shortfall, Perry's bill was. Our local school district is facing an additional shortfall next year of over $3 million. The "surplus" that Val speaks of is not like an emergency savings account. Rather, it is the money that is used to pay bills when no money is coming in. Without those reserves, we will have to borrow money to pay from about October through December. I suppose we could ask everyone to work for free for 3 months, not pay electricity or water, and hope that we can get free gas as well, but that isn't how this works, is it? It is like in my business- when I have lots of business, I don't rush out and buy a lot of stuff, I put some back, because my business is fairly seasonal, and I'll need some of that money later to pay bills when my cash flow is down. It is just good business. If they run out of reserves, then the district will have to borrow money, meaning they'll be paying interest, meaning that even less of the money will be going into the classroom.
By the way, there is no such thing as the 65% rule- Perry tried to push it through as an executive order, but it was never passed as a law. If Dripping Springs wants to put 65% into the classroom, they'll need to shut down buses, and probably not have a/c or heat, either, as those are not counted as "classroom expense", yet if we can't get the kids to school and can't make it at least somewhat comfortable temperature-wise, they're not going to do too well.
"Administrative costs" are about 3% of Dripping Springs expenses- I think they're actually a little less.
These are some things that aren't counted as "classroom expenses:
buses
a/c or heat
insurance
libraries
cafeteria
nurses
administrative personnel (some of which are required by state law)
Back to the propositions and what they mean: If Prop 2 passes, it will bring in $2.5 million, and Prop 1 passing will mean an additional $430,000 made available, so the shortfall will be much less. This is important because if they don't pass, the district will run through their reserves. As mentioned before, if they run out, they will have to borrow money to pay to keep the doors open for those few months, meaning that more and more money will be going to pay interest on loans, so less and less will be going into our classrooms.
If these props are not passed, look for draconian cuts for next year. This year, the cuts, as bad as they were, affected our classrooms relatively little. That won't be the case next year. Look for even more bus cuts, even larger class sizes 5th-12th grades, more Drippings Springs folks losing their jobs, fewer college prep classes being offered,(meaning our students will be less prepared for college,) higher fees for extracurricular activities, as well as other cuts. Our school board & administrators work very hard to get the "best bang for the buck." We already get less money per student than any other school district in the metro area, but yet our schools have ranged from "Exemplary" to "Recognized"- none lower than "Recognized."
For those without students in the local schools who think they shouldn't have to support them, consider this: not every parent can or will homeschool, and not every family can afford private school. If our schools fall in quality, then our dropout level is more likely to rise. Children who aren't educated require more social services. Kids who can't read at level by the 3rd grade are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system. It is to the advantage of everyone living in Dripping Springs that every single child is educated- whether that is in public, private or home schools. Since the majority do go to public schools, we all benefit from them.
I will be honest and say there is much I don't like about public schools, but 99% of that is Legislative mandated. Our teachers do a great job with what they're given to do. Besides teaching, they have to direct traffic before and after school, they now are the cleaners of their rooms as well. Think back to when you were a child- did your teachers do that? Mine were allowed just to teach, they were available to us after school to give us extra help, because they didn't have to run out and direct cars or kids. I don't know how they do it, with all the mandates and all the extra paperwork and extra work. Our teachers are available to us, even after school, via email and often cell phone, too. Their #1 aim is to help our children be successful. To me, that is worth the extra dollars each month- if it means we go out to dinner one less time a month, or I make 1 less trip to Austin each week, then so be it. I'm going to turn Matthew 6:21 around- "Where your HEART is, your treasure will be there, too."
You can read the facts at http://www.dsisd.txed.net/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=800
Please vote yes on both Props- our community deserves it, and our kids nned it. Then let your State Rep (Jason Isaac) and Senator (Jeff Wentworth) know that you don't appreciate them not taking care of business and tell them either you want an ironclad promise they'll work to change the structural deficit in funding this next time or you'll fire them and hire someone who will.
Kathi Thomas
Dear "I hear ya" - you must be the product of a local public school district - it's "LOOSE" screw, not "LOSE" screw. One is "lew-se" one is "luze". Pronunciation... I can see why you'd be opposed to better education.
And "Attention Must Be Paid" - you have to be a dumb-a-crat. Honestly, who do you think pays taxes? Home owners? Yes. Business owners (i.e., shop owners?) Yes. Proportionately, guess who pays more? You got it - "shop owners" or more appropriately put - business owners.
Commercial property is taxed at a much HIGHER valuation of property than is residential. I guess you didn't get that from YOUR Public education did you? Guess not, you were to busy with the "Occupy my a-hole" group painting posters and smoking weed, complaining about the "goody-two-shoes" who make A's because they STUDIED, and PAID ATTENTION in class. (I promise you that if you were to check the ratio of kids who study and pay attention in class and how they do in life, and then compare that with the dildos who slept in class and did as little as possible in school and see how they're doing in life; guess who is doing better by and large. You got it - the "goody-two-shoes" who paid attention and studied. They were too busy WORKING instead of WHINING about how unfair things were; guess how things go today? Same way. Those who work hard and are busy taking care of their business - do okay, and get along; those potheads who still don't do anything but suck up the public funds and cry about how unfair things are still are stuck on stupid. What a shame...
To Anonymous, Oct. 15, 10:38 PM:
I AM one of the "goody two shoes" you praise. I paid attention in class, I studied, I got a master's degree.
Yes, I'm what you call a "dumb-a-crat," and I'm smart. And I care about the plight of other people.
For a little insight into the cloudy mind of the author of the endless comments in 3 parts above, check out the Biography of Kathi Thomas at;
http://kathithomas.com/9/Biography.html
The bio pretty well says it all, she is a hopelessly Liberal Democrat do-gooder who loves your tax money. This my friends is the type of dimocrat that has got us to where we are. I am surprised that the Editor would allow so much of that dribble to be put on this Blog.
I'm not bothered by Kathi's politics or her biography. I'm sure she's a fine person, albeit a little over-enamored with the tax and spend side of the equation. Yes, we have been duped by Perry (and I've sure had enough of him already) but I am not sold on the need for slapping an overnight Tax-a-palooza on thousands of residents and business owners just because the school board says it is needed. The sales pitch is that the tax increase would result in only $28 more in actual taxes paid by lower valued properties or more than $300 for business owners and higher valued property owners. Much more important is the principle of standing against giving (and keep giving) the school district a blank check. Who but the very wealthy can afford to give anyone or any cause a blank check?? I betcha 2.5 million bucks the district will not implode if the tax election fails. Say NO to the tax increase, first, then get involved, talk to your school board members to begin making sensible savings in the budget. Don't fall for the scare tactics.
"This my friends is the type of dimocrat that has got us to where we are."
How long have Bush and Perry been Democrats?
"I am surprised that the Editor would allow so much of that dribble to be put on this Blog."
I agree.
"Kathi said...
Part 1 of 3
Stay with me- I know this is long & detailed, but the truth can't be put in neat 10 second sound bites..."
Kathi, I'm glad you shared your views, but our problem at hand is much simpler than your analysis suggests.
The tax increase is unwarranted based on 2 facts:
1- In DSISD between 2006 - 2010 revenue collected per student has increased every year, from $9880 in 2006 to $11,349 for 2010. These numbers come from the TEA Budget reports.
2- The State of Texas cut $2.1 mil from the 2011-12 funding for DSISD. DSISD has reported that the cuts they taken so far, the famous janitor firings, etc. saved $2.5 mil. That implies that they're actually $400k ahead for 2011-12.
So why is there a tax increase needed? There's no hole to fill.
Regarding flipping the short term notes into a bond. It becomes an additional $3.6 mil debt obligation, which uses our property as collateral to secure the bond. Later, taxes will be raised to pay the bond. That's been the process forever.
Post a Comment