Thursday, July 29, 2010

Clergy urge yes vote on Greenville levy

To the citizens of Greenville City Schools,

As clergy residing in the Greenville City School District, and / or pastors of churches within this district, we are in favor of safe and efficient educational facilities for our children. In addition, we are aware of the effect that quality schools have on the social and economic fabric of a community. We see the value in moving forward now while state dollars are available to us and current construction costs are low. Therefore, we are united in our support of the passage of the bond issue and levy for the construction and maintenance of a new 5th – 8th grade middle school, and urge our fellow residents to vote YES on August 3.

Sincerely,

Bob Bitner, Hershel Fee, Samuel Hoeflich, John L. Huffaker, Jon P. Keller, Bill Kidwell, Alan Knoke, Peter J. Kontra, Bill Lyle, Sylvia McKibben, John McRoberts, Peter Menke, Joe Payne, John Person, Todd Reish

20 comments:

  1. Iam still voting NO on aug 3 .

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  2. Jesus is for the levy now.

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  3. How about you guys pay taxes on your church buildings? If you care so much about the kids have the buildings appraised and pay the proper taxes. My guess is you don't care that much.

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  4. Just a comment Perter Kintra is in favor of this levy, yet his own children do not attend public school. ???????

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  5. I'm glad to see community leaders, whose livelihoods depends upon the livelihoods of their parishioners willing to see this issue for what it is, an opportunity for a sound investment in this community.

    We should look beyond the simple fact that this will increase taxes and too what we get in return. A modern, up to date, safe, accessible building for our children to go to.

    I'm thankful to share a community with folks like these who are willing to put themselves out there, if for nothing else than to speak up for the betterment of this community.

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  6. A very well written statement from these leaders. I commend them for speaking up publicly for what they believe is right.

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  7. The Noblest Motive is the Public Good

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  8. I think taxation across the board should include the churches,if they want a voice..

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  9. I agree with Robert. Taxation if you want representation...

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  10. This particular comment is coming from one person only, and not from other signers of this letter. People need and deserve answers, and I want to be as up front with you as I attempt to explain a few things. Hopefully, I won't "muddy the waters" anymore than they already are!

    First of all,
    the above letter is not from the churches. It is from active and retired clergy. That's a big difference. We do not speak for our churches. We speak only for ourselves.

    Second,
    we clergy do pay taxes. Yep, we do.

    Many clergy own their own homes and pay taxes on those homes.

    Others may pay rent, and part of that rent is, of course, used to pay for the landlord's property tax. As Jim Buchy so clearly stated, all of us pay property taxes either through direct payment or through our rent to the landlords.

    And, of course, all of us pay income tax. Yea, I know, this bond issue is on property tax. But, did you know that the average property owner would actually pay MORE if this bond issue was paid through a tax on income? That's because we would lose the tax paid by our surrounding businesses, corporations, and industry.

    But let's get back to the clergy.

    Other clergy, like myself, may live in homes owned by churches. Did you know that churches pay property taxes on residential homes?

    That's right. Churches pay taxes too.

    Then, in my case, this housing benefit is taxed as additional income (for me it is figured as 25% of my cash salary). So, instead of paying property tax, I pay income tax on 125% of my cash salary. Joy, joy.

    So folks, we do pay taxes, just like you do.

    Lastly, just as I don't claim to speak for members of my church, other pastors, or members of other churches,

    I sure don't claim to speak for Jesus.

    However, as I probe the Scriptures and search my own heart, I believe that offering a safe and comfortable learning environment for our kids is the Christlike thing for ME to do.

    At the same time, I believe this is best for the general well being and longterm viability of the WHOLE COMMUNITY. Those of you who are concerned about a couple dollars per week added to your taxes should be even more concerned about your falling property values should our schools continue to age and our community's downward spiral becomes more and more obvious.

    In short, if this doesn't pass, my concern is not just for the kids. My concern is for all of us. None of us really take great pleasure in paying any tax. But, when we can see the obvious need, then it doesn't hurt quite so bad, especially a couple of years down the road when we will all be able to see the fruit that this particular tax will bear.

    August 3 is our last chance.

    Let's hope enough of us grab hold of this opportunity now, while we still can.

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  11. First of all there is no deadline for the goevernment money. The deadline is what the school board has been hiding and lying about. Remember when they purchased that land, that is the deadline. As far as taxes, take a look at your healthcare deductions they take out of your check each week. Come Jan it is going to increase again to pay for Obama,s plan. Also the Bush tax cut comes to an end, and we are going to lose our roll back Still voting NO, NO, NO,....

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  12. I agree that we should support the levy to insure that our kids have a safe, healthy and comfortable learning environment. I would also like to see GCS by their actions do the "Christlike thing" by treating their employees with fairness and honesty. The classified employees do not have a union and rely upon the school board to insure that they are treated fairly.

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  13. 8:13 the deadline for this plan is October. We have to pass this Aug. 3. Don't kid yourself or any of us. Also, take a look at the taxes any other community pays for schools. Take some pride in Greenville. This is a need, not a want. I don't like taxes either, but I am voting yes. In fact, I already have.

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  14. I'm voting no again!!!! Get The message Greenville School Board!!!!! Maybe if we cast our vote and put it in a bottle and threw it in the ocean.....maybe.....just maybe they would get the picture!!!

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  15. Thats shameful that you are voting no because of the greenville school board. If you dont like them why did you vote for them? The vote is for the kids not for the schoolboard. What a shame

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  16. Greenville needs to build a new K-12 like it was originaly planned a few years back. Why did they send out a survey way back then about the K-12, if they were not even going to consider it? All of the other schools around here in neighboring towns have been able to streamline their maintenance costs, etc. by building a K-12. This would enable Greenville to rid themselves of outdated, high maintenance buildings, and help with the busing congestion throughout Greenville. As it has been noted, the Class of 1962 was the last high school class to graduate from the old high school. The "new" high school is 47 years old. The old high school, now the middle school, is crumbling and requires extensive and costly maintenance. All of the elementary buildings are also in various states of disrepair, especially East elementary school. What about them? Why use the money just to build a new middle school, when we are looking at much more money down the road in the near future, when the other buildings start crumbling too. I think that we should take care of all of the problem at once, not just part of it. We should be concerned about ALL of our kids and buildings, not just the JR. High.

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  17. JP - thanks for supporting a school system that (if I'm not mistaken) you have not lived in for very long.
    This school board, administration, faculty, and student body cannot be expected to be held accountable for choices made for them years ago. If you want to know the answers as to why things were bought years ago and why previous boards members made certain choices - contact them! There is a deadline and if we don't pass this now we'll have to pay even more or I guess we can continue to let our children go to schools that can be considered unsafe! I laugh when I read alot of these posts that are nothing less than conspiracy theories! Please inform yourself with the facts and solely the facts! Again, none of us have a money tree growing in the back yard (if you do please let me know!)- none of us want to see an increase in taxes but sometimes you do what you don't want to do for the sake of the greater good!

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  18. I am still trying to digest the comment that building costs are down.I cannot support this levy due to the fact that I know people who will not be able afford even a small increase.Also it is just not the school who seems unable to control their budget.The school is just one of the sectors in this community that will not quit giving themselves raises.The school levy is just the straw that broke the camels back.What it comes down to is we are already being taxed to death in so many others areas, that we have come to the conclusion that no tax is for a good reason.City tax,federal tax,estate tax.Shoot,the government even steps in now after you are dead to take your house because you used medicare,a system that these older folks have already paid into.So forgive us for not throwing money at you to piss away on something other than our children.What this school needs to do is quit trying to slither this thing in the back door. open their books and prove to the community that it is capable of running the operation they now have and the money will soon follow.

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