Editorial: Time for Mt. Pleasant School Voters to Step Up for Their District
Anyone who lives in Westchester is keenly aware that property taxes are high and many families are under increasing pressure to make ends meet because of those tax bills.
As a result, it’s understandable why voters, many of whom are already overextended, decided each of the past two years to oppose the capital projects bonds presented by the Mount Pleasant School District. Those votes, a single-proposition $55.8 million bond in 2014 and a three-part referendum for more than $42 million in 2015, were large and would have cost the taxpayers plenty.
It could also be argued that there were likely some items that weren’t absolutely necessary.
Next Tuesday’s referendum for $39.6 million is still quite significant and won’t come cheaply for homeowners, at least not in the years 2020 to 2025, before decreasing markedly for the remainder of the 20-year bond. Even with those enrolled in the regular or senior STAR programs, it will cost in excess of more than $300 a year during that period.
However, if anyone were to review the list of projects that would be funded through approval of next Tuesday’s bond vote, there is no fluff, nothing that could be considered a luxury item – unless your idea of luxury is having boilers, HVAC systems and fire alarms that work, roofs that don’t leak and parking lots and walkways that aren’t riddled with potholes.
While none of these items are directly related to education, maintaining a proper and comfortable environment has everything to do with learning. It’s hard for teachers and students to be at their best if the heat is broken or if there’s a leak over their head.
The bottom line is that the work needs to get done. Two years have been lost with the previous two bond defeats and there are just too many projects for this work to be completed piecemeal with funding coming from the annual budget.
An important factor for voters who may be pondering a no vote: since capital projects funded through bonds are exempt from the tax cap for school districts, these funds will not limit the district’s ability to address its educational needs by hampering its ability to raise money through taxes. If money is diverted from elsewhere in the budget – unless it’s coming from fund balance – to pay for new lights or a leaky roof, that will count toward the district’s flexibility in navigating the cap.
With the Consumer Price Index still at fractional levels of increase, at least for municipalities working on their 2017 budgets, it would mean little to nothing will be left for programs, which are already under significant pressure.
The cost is a hefty sum for a segment of the population, particularly for seniors on fixed incomes. However, it’s time to get the work done and protect the schools for this generation of students and beyond.
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