Historically, the voters and taxpayers of Blaine County have been very generous to the Blaine County School District. Generosity is a good thing, particularly when it involves our children's education. This fiscal year, the district will receive over $74 million from a variety of taxpayer sources for its operating and capital spending needs. This computes to nearly $22,000 per student, a number that approaches the highest per-student revenues for K-12 public education anywhere in the United States. Local taxpayers have been so generous that the district entered its current fiscal year sitting on a $14 million surplus!
Now, in the midst of what many are calling the "Great Recession," and in the face of a very uncertain future for our local economy, the district is asking voters to approve a 10-year, $59.8 million property tax levy, to be collected "only if needed." Among other things, the $59.8 million may be spent on technology enhancements, a new elementary school, security cameras and campus lockdown equipment, geothermal heating capabilities, biodiesel fuel storage and even sidewalk snow-melting facilities. These monies will constitute about 8 percent of the district's revenues over the next 10 years.
The question is not whether local taxpayers can afford to pay this levy, the question is whether they should. Is the district stewarding taxpayer resources in the most responsible manner possible? Like so many of us are being forced to do, is it adjusting its budget to changing times? Is the district focusing its attention on its most important priority, the classroom education of our county's children? Or is it more interested in building a real estate empire that looks and sounds grand, but is not necessarily producing better student outcomes?
Vote "no" on the levy. Tell the district to tighten its belt and get more done with a bit less.
Jeff Lewis
Ketchum
