Letter: Who benefits from the Jeffco bond and mill levy? - #lakewoodnews

The $535 million bond and $33 million mill levy overrides that will be on the Jeffco ballot in November moves nearly all sixth-graders to middle school. It also adds turf to high school fields, and less than half of the $535 million will actually go to fixing up older schools.  

The $535 million includes the cost of adding 120 classrooms. This would make sense if school enrollment in Jeffco was up. But enrollment in Jeffco has not grown over the last decade - yes, that is right, there are less students in Jeffco schools than there were 10 years ago. Why add capacity with no growth? Why add capacity when there are schools in Jeffco that sit empty? Why add capacity with no bond resources allocated to improving student engagement and performance? So why are taxpayers being asked to pay, with interest, nearly a billion dollars to build new classrooms? 

Why are taxpayers being asked to raise their taxes $33 million a year for operating costs when none of it will go to hiring new teachers, zero will go to reducing class sizes, and very little will go to increasing teacher compensation? Why do they want to raise our tax rates when our property taxes are already going up because our houses are appreciating? Why are we being asked for more when Jeffco spending has grown each year for the last five years? 

Vote "no" on 3B, Jeffco's nearly billion bond, and Vote NO on 3A, $33 million mill levy override!

Maureen Sielaff,

Littleton

 

 

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Letter-Who-benefits-from-the-Jeffco-bond-and-mill-levy,238109