McNiel opposes tax
This letter is directed to the Pea Ridge School District Board Members.
First, I realize that the school district needs to build a new high school in order to provide space for all of the additional new children coming in.
Construction bids have not even been put out as of yet. So technically, no one actually knows what the new buildings will specifically cost. There is really no way of actually knowing what their cost will be two or three years from now.
Concerning my own personal debts, it has always been a prerequisite for me to know exactly what I was planning on buying before I begin discussing how much anything I was considering buying actually costs.
I am particularly disturbed that you have convinced many of the people of this town to go out and put up campaign signs, asking for everyone to vote yes on this additional tax millage increase without actually knowing the specific amount of money needed for the new school design.
According to the press release which you put out, you are asking the tax paying citizens of Pea Ridge to pay the highest tax millage in the area, (49.9 mills), possibly the highest in the state of Arkansas. In addition to this, I understand that you intend to extend the current debt on the current existing loan by an additional four years. That means that it will take 30 years to pay this loan off as well. Question? Exactly how much is that current loan for anyhow?
The phrase; (and equipping other school facilities) can basically be implying an open ended checkbook. Once this additional tax millage increase passes, then this statement can be used by the school administrators to imply that the school can purchase anything they want to buy without any direct oversight.
I was always taught that someone should pay off their current existing loans before they went out and borrowed additional money. This rule primarily applies to individuals' debts. The primary reason that this philosophy does not apply to governmental education loans is because five or 10 years from now you current School Board members will probably not be on the board any longer and so this will no longer be your responsibility. This financial responsibility will simply be passed on to your replacements.
I also understand that you intend to try and convince the current student body to convince their parents to vote for this and convince those who are just now turning 18 years old to go out and register so that they will be eligible to go to the poles and vote yes also.
Question? Are you explaining to them that this new school will probably not be paid for in their entire life time and that they will basically be paying for it for the rest of their lives?
I realize that it is not necessarily your responsibility to worry about the things that will be occurring 30 or 40 years from now.
Respectfully,
Boyd B. McNielPea Ridge, Ark.
Editorial on 04/05/2017