While I’ve often been critical of the Greenville school board, my concern has always been for the kids in this district. I’ve had two conversations with the current campaign co-chair, Bill Funderburg. His comments addressed his approach to this final attempt to pass the current bond issue…
“It’s the bottom of the ninth with two outs, you’re down 3 to 2. You have your fastest runner at the plate and more speed on third…
“What would you do?”
“Bunt. Suicide squeeze.”
“Exactly. That’s what we did. You could lose, but it’s your last chance to tie the game and go into extra innings for the win.”
That was how Funderburg explained his “Tax REFUND” and “Senior Citizen center” strategy. The cards being handed out by the supporters of the bond issue have raised a few eyebrows.
I understood what he was saying. I was concerned about how his approach would be viewed by the voters in August, however I couldn’t argue with his logic.
The bond issue has been defeated twice. August is the last chance for this opportunity. If we get another shot in the future, it will be by the old rules and will cost a heckuva lot more.
Senior center? Funderburg acknowledged that the details have to be worked out. That isn’t his job; getting the bond issue passed is. Space will be available to seniors, as well as the rest of the community, when the issue passes.
More important however is the Tax REFUND. He was adamant… it is a tax refund! It is our money coming back to us in the form of state and federal tax dollars. While true, I still believe it is somewhat of a stretch to refer to it as a “refund.” Voters need to understand that it is tax money coming back to their school district to help pay for the building… don’t look for a check in the mail.
What hasn’t gotten wide circulation yet – evidently it was only recently attached to the card that is being passed out – is a slip of paper that explains the most common sense reason for passing the bond issue that I’ve seen during this entire campaign…
Flat, workbook and lab fees will be permanently cancelled if the issue passes. K-6 fees are approximately $45 per year per student. For the average homeowner (tax value $50-$60,000) with one child in the district, those fees nearly cancel out the tax for the bond issue.
Two students? Most of the additional tax on a $100,000 home is cancelled.
Three or more students? You come out ahead.
Fees can be cancelled because there would be no more maintenance on two old buildings. Maintenance costs are only going to increase as old buildings get older. This has been explained… ad nauseam. The added expense to the owner of a $100,000 home is only about $10 a month. This has been explained… ad nauseam.
Greenville schools has the lowest tax rates of any district in the county. Pass the bond issue and Greenville schools will still have the lowest tax rates.
I wanted to preserve Darke County’s heritage… rebuild, refurbish, upgrade, modernize. Preserve the uniqueness and character of another time. I hammered the district about it.
Ain’t happenin’, folks! The state won’t give us any of our money back; the cost to taxpayers would be twice as much. And some South issues would still be left unresolved.
My message is to members of my generation and their children. Grandparents, Moms and Dads. You can believe it or not, but I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. We don’t want our grandkids, children, nieces or nephews in South School. The Junior High is acknowledged old, high maintenance and uncomfortable. South is all that and more. South is dangerous!
My grandchildren are 2,500 miles away, but I have two nephews and a niece in this district. They are precious to me. The fact that one nephew already goes to South, my niece will be in South the year after next and another nephew the following year, scares the hell out of me.
Most of us have one or more grandchildren somewhere… we have nieces, nephews, young people who are important to us. We watch their sports activities; we enjoy hearing about their daily activities. We care about them, their comfort, their safety…
Greenville schools opens South periodically for anyone who wants to see it. Call them. When you see an opportunity, take advantage of it. Check it out for yourself.
Then ask yourself if you would want your grandchildren to go there.
I rest my case.
That’s my opinion. What’s yours?
Bob Robinson, Greenville
[submitted as a "letter to the editor"]
I have disagreed and shook my head on a lot of things Bob has choosen to write about, but as for this letter, I don't think I have seen anyone put it clear straight forward words. People can argue opinions but he just laid out many facts that I hope people will ask themselves. I went to Greenville Schools many years ago and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have 1 more child left and he will be out before the first brick of any new building is set, so why would I vote for this??? FOR EVERYONE ELSES KIDS SO THEY CAN HAVE THE SAME OR BETTER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES THAT I WAS PROVIDED. I hate everyone saying I don't get anything from this except more taxes. I say, if you live in this community, you are impacted by the schools weather you know it or not. Drive thru Covington and look at the signs in the yards. We should be borrowing their slogan and inserting Green Wave for Bucs..... Green Wave PRIDE...lets build it. I feel we really need to start taking more pride in our town. It really is a great place
ReplyDeleteWell written, and thought out. Someone else around here once said that "it's just the right thing to do". Voting yes is the right thing to do....even if it means tighting up your money belt even more than it already is. Until Ohio takes the time to fix it's funding for public education, we all must take our turn paying for it and it doesn't matter if you are 18 or 80. We all must have the pride and belief in our community and school system to make it the best that we possibly can.
ReplyDeleteTyler l you are right we need to build pride and build it not only behind the school system but also behind the entire city ! come on Greenville our home colors are green and white this fall lets make it known when a visiting team comes here they know who we are and that we mean business. I am not promising this is not going to happen in 1 - 3 years it will certainly take time but we have to start somewhere
ReplyDeleteThere are other ways to fund school building. Private contributions, Obama money, you name it's out there. Ask Cordelle GA. Money is disappearing in Greenville, look at all the homes on the auction block and look at all the empty stores uptown. OUT OF BUISNESS. Has GCSB thought about letting the state run the school. It paid off for other cities Mason is one of them
ReplyDeleteLove this positivity! Vote yes!
ReplyDeleteIf we continue to have to use these very old inefficient and potentially unsafe buildings, no one is going to want to move into Greenville and our property values will continue to fall.
ReplyDeleteMiriam Kettlehake
I'm tired of budgeting my money while our city and school officials don't seem to know what budgeting is. You learn to live on what you have. This whole thing of were out of money so we will just take more has got to stop. I have no where else to get more. Sure would be nice if I could just tax my neighbors, friends, or family in order for me to build a new house or buy a new car. But I have to make do with what I have. What we need to be doing is lowering all taxes property and income both.
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous @ 10:59am
ReplyDeleteWe did not choose how the system works. Taxes are a part of life, upkeep and budgeting is as well. We really need this. Our city needs this. Our kids need this.
To anonymous@ 7:07am
Really? Did you know it's near impossible to just "let the state take over the school" It would have to be condemned. Go for a visit. Do you want your children and/or grandchildren learning in that environment?
Are you going to make a donation? Do really think our President is going to save us?
Probably not.
@ 1059:
ReplyDeleteyou'd have a decent argument if this was a levy for operating expenses. 2 entire buildings need replaced. The cost it takes to undertake this cannot be funded by simply 'budgeting better."
If anything, you should see the elimination of fees as a perfect example of responsible budgeting. With a new building, the upkeep cost of the old schools will dramatically decrease (and eventually go away). Instead of whistling that savings away they are passing it right to you (the parents)!
7:07 am-If people don't have money for more taxes, how are they going to donate the money we need for new buildings? We don't live in Georgia and have to run things the way OHIO says. The way schools are funding was found to be unconstitional a long time ago, but no one in Columbus has come up with a better way. Sooooo, who are we going to sue because we don't like it-ourselves?
ReplyDeleteWe are looking to retire in Florida and one of the things we look at is schools. We have no children in school, but people who value schools, value their children, and support the community as a whole. It DOES make a difference. Not just the new building, but it does say to new people coming in and new businesses is that Greenville value their most important commodity, which is their children and their children's future. We can pay now or pay later and if we pay later----it will be much more. I voted yes and will continue to vote yes even though I have no kids in the Greenville system. I do it because it is the right thing to do. Someone sacrificed for my education and my children's education and now it is time for me to buckle down and do it for the next generation.
Someone arguing that this is a "tax refund" shows just how far out of touch with reality they are. It is simple arithmetic to see that it is not a refund of any sorts. Forget the math...just use COMMON SENSE! The GCS School Board has lost touch with reality and they need to be put out of touch with the community for good and voted out.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
ReplyDeleteJuly 11, 2010 9:59 PM
It is a Tax Refund where do think the money came from you think the state is just handing over that money. it came from your taxes in some way shape or form. it probably came from more then one source the. If you want Common Sense how about we stop wasting millions on maintenance that we have to do every year because the schools we want to replace are unsafe. I can't believe this community can't come together to provide a educational investment to future generations. it's no wonder this place fails on so many levels.... NOT EVERYONE AROUND HERE IS LIKE THIS. THERE ARE GREAT PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT DO GREAT THINGS FOR THIS COMMUNITY AND I THANK YOU!
anon at 959:
ReplyDeleteplease show you work or your answer will not be counted.
It's clear what they mean by 'tax refund'.
You paid money in, now you get to benefit directly from that money rather than some other district.
I don't think the idea of a 'tax refund' is the best way to communicate this idea, but it is what it is.
Check the age of home owners in Greenville and you will find a great deal of retired folks who do not get pay raises after they retire, they also have no children in school, therefore, they do not get a "tax refund" as you call it.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that we do not want a new school for our kids, it is simply that we do not have xtra money for more taxes.
my biggest issue in this whole mess is why is it always real estate taxes...i own property but have no kids but i am supposed to pay for this while mr n mrs joe who lives in town and rents and has 6 kids and receives goverment assistans for many things pays nothing....sure they might pay if the landlord raises the rent but more then likley it would be covered by the goverment...meanwhile i continue to pay ...i went to greenville and sure its a decent school system but the whole system is ran poorly by the board and others....maybe if they would be more honest and open and try a different type of funding maybe they would get their new schools.....i still say no.....
ReplyDeleteHow is this a "tax refund"? Can I buy my groceries with it?
ReplyDeleteanon 819:
ReplyDeletereal estate taxes are the only viable method currently allowed under law. there are many reasons for this and they have all been covered many times.
the fact that people who are on government assistance won't pay out of pocket is a cop out, imo.
Please provide examples where this board and admin has made poor decisions and what they have been dishonest about.
I challenge you to provide these, and doubt you will be able to.
Approximately 7 years ago the property taxing methods for funding schools in Ohio were ruled to be unconstitutional. The state legislature has chosen to ignore the problem. Therefore I refuse to support any property tax increase for schools. By the way, those calling this a tax rebate, when can I expect my check in the mail if this passes? Vote NO, make the school board do their jobs and stop lying about this tax increase being a rebate.
ReplyDeleteJME you don't understand anything do you... the Tax Rebate is the money that will be given to us to build the school because it came from our taxes... what do you not understand about that that money came from somewhere. I want to see proof that property tax was ruled unconstitutional..........
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting that so many of the anonymous posts opposed to the levy have misspellings and grammatical errors. Maybe an education did nothing for you--that's obvious, but Greenville has a lot of bright kids with a future and we have an obligation to help them. My kids are grown and have left for job opportunities where there are opportunities, but when they were in school, people voted for levies that gave them their start in life. Am I thrilled about more taxes, Hell No! That said, I know for a fact that Greenville can't get a young professional family to come here to live, they look around, see a dying town full of those left behind and those going nowhere, and go where the people look to the future and invest in it. We have to act now, or it will be too late for Greenville.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:19 AM- The board has already explained why sales tax and income tax aren't options. What other kind of funding do you propose?
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:06 PM- It's a tax refund in the sense that we are getting tax dollars that were taken out of our paychecks returned to the community. The school board isn't trying to make anyone believe they are getting a check in the mail. Since the money is part of the OSFC program somebody is going to get those dollars - they will go to an Ohio school district. Essentially, we've been paying to build schools all over the state for other districts. I'd feel a little better about all the money coming out of my check if I knew $8.8 million was coming back to Greenville.
jme - What job is the school board not doing that voting no is going to "make" them do? They are not lying, it's just marketing. It's a refund of your, mine, and other's tax dollars back to the community. I realize this isn't the strict, literal definition of "tax rebate" that people are used to, but it isn't so far out there as to be a lie.
per http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2207
ReplyDelete"The school districts then filed an appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court, which agreed to consider the case in 1996. The next year, the court ruled that Ohio�s current way of funding schools violated the Ohio Constitution. The justices ordered that the state government �enact a constitutional school-funding system.�
Unfortunately for state officials, the Ohio Supreme Court provided no real guidance on how to create a constitutional school-funding program. The legislature, instead of implementing an entire overhaul of the system, simply authorized more state funds to schools. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled again that the school-funding process in Ohio remained unconstitutional, but the court eventually determined that the Ohio government had made a good-faith effort to change public school funding, and the justices overturned their earlier rulings. Critics of school funding in Ohio remain active in calling for a complete overhaul of the system and an end to the heavy reliance upon property taxes."
So you're right... sort of. It was ruled unconstitutional, but in the absence of a better, more efficient system, it's allowed to work.
To refuse the levy based on this is a misguided cop out.
It is spending federal dollars that we do not have in order for you tax hikers to say its a rebate. It is no such thing. It is just more tax and spend. Calling it anything else shows the tax hikers are now desperate because people do not believe their story. Make do with what you have or you can move to another district.
ReplyDeleteFederal dollars, tax hikers, tax and spend? This isn't Washington, D.C. and career politicans, it's Greenville, Ohio and our school board made of community members.
ReplyDeleteThe state dollras WILL be spent by an Ohio school district for a facility project. It's already appropriated. If Greenville refuses the money the state will move onto the next district on the waiting list. If we vote 'no' the state isn't going to put that $8.8 million in the the general fund or use it to balance the budget. Essentially, it's already been spent.
The "make do" and "it's good enough" mentality is why Greenville is in the shape it's in. We have to stand up and demand more and better. Our buildings are in terrible shape, they aren't good enough, and we shouldn't just make do.
Robert, that's exactly what's happening. People are moving to other districts, where the taxes are higher, but the schools are superior. People who see the value of education will move out, and we don't want that.
ReplyDeleteJosh F. at 12:02 p.m. - Thanks for acknowledging that the "tax refund" has already been received by everyone because schools were built somewhere else. If THIS SITUATION is a true tax refund, you just said schools were built elsewhere with tax dollars from this program. Essentially, you're admitting the tax refund was already received by all Greenville residents paying taxes. Perhaps Greenville residents will not have seen the "refund" because it isn't localized, but it has already occurred in other areas by your logic. Tell it like it is - it is simply an allocation of tax dollars to Greenville, not the "tax refund" the school board is falsely promoting.
ReplyDeleteI find it ironic that the people arguing that it actually is a tax refund acknowledge that it truly isn't, but then argue why they can see it as one. Just face the facts: 100% not a refund, 100% a false claim by the school board, and is merely an allocation of tax dollars. Perhaps if levy supporters could get past trying to defend the outright lies, real issues could be discussed. But, regardless, when the school board places supporters in the levy of having to try and defend a lie, they really are doing them no favors.
And Bill - try arguing about the poor spelling and grammar when yours is pristine. Perhaps you just don't know where the errors are in your sentences, or don't care to correct them? To the contrary, I have noticed terrible grammar and spelling in the posts of many persons acknowledging themselves as Greenville grads. However, I doubt someone will be basing a vote on whether a Greenville graduate can spell the word "dilettante" or if he or she correctly utilizes a colon over a semi-colon on a chat board. If they are..lord, Greenville will NEVER pass a levy.
No offense to Wave 96, but he is doing the levy a great disservice by the way he is treating anyone who does not agree with his position.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if all comments were posted instead of the "pick and choose" that takes place. I know posting comments that completely undercut any argument for the levy do not serve the desires of the website operator, but pretty unethical for a person of such a profession to ignore one side of an argument and try to hide away information just to try and sway the other side.
ReplyDeleteatleast I put my name on what I see and I don't treat any bad... stop hiding behind Anonymous - not only that but I haven't said one thing to disrespect someone's comment I don't call names and or down grade anyone.
ReplyDeleteIf Greenville citizens went through Versailles' new school building, they would want the same educational environment for Greenville students.
ReplyDeleteWe need to show Greenville pride!! Way to go, Versailles!
Wave 96, in the live chat you are always ridiculing someone who says to vote no. Come off it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful site! I am so glad their is a place in this community where people can voice their opinion about issues. In the past for many years this community seems to be run by so called political people with others hiding in the brush waiting to inform their leaders of those who disagree with an issue on hand, just so they can point them out and try to ruin their life.
ReplyDeleteAgain I am so glad finally, an average Joe can make an Anonymous posted opinion and not fear that they will be pointed at or looked down for stating how they feel. Thank you - D. J.