Public Affairs Meeting, Tues Aug 21st, 6pm, School Taxes

Just a quick reminder: there is a Conifer Chamber Public Affairs meeting tomorrow night from 6-7pm at the Elk Creek Fire Dept and on the agenda is a discussion of the proposed Jefferson County School Mill Levy.

Public Affairs Committee, Conifer Chamber of Commerce
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
6:00 – 7:00 PM

Elk Creek Fire Dept.
11993 Blackfoot Road
US 285, Richmond Hill Road Exit, Mile Marker 233.4 (as if we had 1/10 th mile markers)
Conifer CO 80433

Agenda - Jefferson County School District possible tax increase

6:00 Introductions, signup sheet, order whatever
6:10 Citizens 4 Jeffco Schools – Dr. Cindy Stevenson, Steve Bell
6:20 Jefferson County Students First Action – Sheila Atwell
6:30 Citizens 4 Jeffco Schools - Dr. Cindy Stevenson, Steve Bell
6:35 Jefferson County Students First Action – Sheila Atwell
6:40 Questions and limited answers
7:00 Adjourn

Cindy Steevenson, makes what close to $500,000.00/year

Thanks to 285bound for posting this meeting. Many of us have schedules that do not allow us to attend all of these meetings, and it's good to have a resource where we can watch them when time allows.

A few points I would like to make- Much money can be cut from the administration side of things. Cindy Stevenson says there are only 130 (very conservative) some odd administration jobs for the school district- that number (which has grown year after year) could be reduced to reflect the contracting economy in Jeffco- so some of those jobs could be cut, and the remainder of them could use a cut in salary because they are still being paid based on the good time economy.

I'd ask Cindy Stevenson how much of her salary was cut? I bet none at all, in fact the administrators got a raise the last 2 years.

My second point was brought up at the beginning by Sheila Atwell - who brought up many good points. In Jefferson County- we pay a full 30% more than the average Colorado county for our school system. This is very notable considering all you ever hear is how they need more money.

It's like a 12 year old who has a very generous and rich dad paying an allowance- why settle for the status quo when you can always ask for more, even though you already get more allowance than all of your other friends.

We pay 30% MORE than the average district in Colorado- so they already have a very well funded school system. Jefferson County taxpayers have been very generous in years past- approving many of the tax increases for schools- and the higher value of homes in this area mean more money for the district.

They have all the money they need to educate our children with a first class education, yet still they fall short.

The "it's for the children" argument dosn't hold water here. All the taxpayers like me want- is for the school district to find a way to do better with the money they already have.

They expect to keep increasing their funding- even during bad economic times- and here they would like to increase the debt that the school system owes. The Jeffco school system already has a budget of 1 billion dollars a year.

As one of the meeting attendees has pointed out- a kid in a Jeffco kindergarten class today will still be paying for this debt (if it passes) when she is 25 years old!

At a time when businesses in the area are just squeeking by - they want to squeeze another $500.00 a year out of them.

At a time when families are cutting back on everything they can- having suffered lost jobs and decreased incomes, the school system wants another $150.00 a year, and that is for the average value home, those who have homes worth 350k-450K or more can double or even triple that amount.

Many retired senior citizens are on a fixed income and have experienced their investment income dwindle, they are cutting their budget everywhere they can just to get by. Many of our seniors are falling short- and the school system wants more money from them as well.

Many of these older folks simply can not afford more taxes at this time, and many more like me are concerned that when we retire, we will not be able to afford to live in our home town.

Jeffco school district is the single largest consumer of our property taxes in the county- they account for a full 50% of our property taxes.

As Sheila Atwell has accurately pointed out, as the economy improves, the school system automatically gets more money.

The school system here is already very well funded - and they do not need this additional tax at this time.

Vote no on these two tax proposals.