De Leon Free Press (De Leon, Tex.), Vol. 116, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 3, 2007 Page: 15 of 16
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148 S. Texas
DeLeon, Texas 76444
expense to operate continues to
rise each year due to their age and
inefficiency.
Why can’t the district afford
new facilities when they'will not
cause the local tax rate to increase,
meaning the district will use the
same amount of revenue to take
care of its entire obligations? Why
can t the district afford it when it is
going to lower the actual tax-rate
and provide modem, accessible,
efficient, and code compliant
facilities?
If the district does not get state
money, the school board has
pledged not to move forward with
the project.
“You stated the DeLeon
ISD Board has set aside $1 mil-
lion in support of school
improvements. If the $1 million
that taxpayers were over-
charged had been used for bet-
ter school maintenance, would
we have to be talking about
replacing our high school?”
Yes. Better school mainte-
nance does not solve many of the
problems that currently exist at the
high school and the elementary.
Classrooms that are crowded and
do not meet state standards are not
due to poor maintenance.
Classrooms that do not have ade-
quate electrical service and use
breaker switches to turn on the
lights are not maintenance issues.
Safety issues and handicapped
accessibility, which prevent stu-
dents who have disabilities from
using all of the district's facilities,
also have nothing to do with main-
tenance.
I would also point out that
'only a couple of years ago the dis-
trict’s fund balance had slipped
below required state levels. The
major reason that the district has
been able to acquire any addition-
al funds is due to the excess funds
the district acquired from wealthy
school districts through partner-
ship agreements. Without these
agreements the district would not
have the funds that it has today.
To say that the district has
been overcharging the taxpayers
in order to build up a surplus is not
a totally correct statement. The
state requires the school district to
tax a certain amount or the district
would lose state money. It is this
system that has forced more and
more of the burden of financing
public schools on the local taxpay-
er that caused the Texas Supreme
Court to rule the system unconsti-
tutional and mandate the legisla-
ture make changes.
“I don’t believe that you
can guarantee that my taxes will
not go up in the next 25 years.”
You are right. No one can
guarantee that, and if they do,
something is wrong. What 1 can
guarantee is that the state legisla-
ture has put strict limits to what
school districts can do on their tax
rates. While cities, counties, and
other special districts (such as the
hospital) can raise their taxes on a
percentage basis, school districts
requires school districts to use
bonded [indebtedness to acquire
new facilities.
Another reality is that a
school district actually loses
money when it goes with a "pay as
you go" method for school facili-
ties. With the state now picking
up a major portion of the debt for
a school district, particularly those
that are low property wealth, a
community that leaves state
money on the table, forces the
community to pay more than it has
to for facilities by strictly using
local dollars and not leveraging
state money to build school facili-
ties.
Another reality is that when
school districts become so fixated
on putting money away for school
construction, they are then taking
away money that could be used to
improve die school’s instructional
program. The truth of today’s
world, in relation to school con-
struction in Texas, is that the state
expects schools to go into debt to
meet their facility needs and they
reward districts with state funding
when they do just that.
“I’d like to have a new
Cadillac, hut I can’t afford it.
and this District can’t afford it
either."
The program that is being
laid out by the Board and the dis-
trict is not a Cadillac program. It
is a fiscally conservative approach
to try and deal with needs that
have been years in the making.
The district is not asking for tax-
payers to pay for extravagance. It
is asking the community for the
authority to leverage all available
funding so that the district can pro-
vide quality school facilities: facil-
ities that the community will be
able to utilize for the next fifty
years.
The district also cannot afford
to continue spending money that
is intended to be used to teach our
children, on facilities that have
face a much stricter limit and nor-
mally can raise their taxes only by
pennies, not by percentage points.
The recent school finance
legislation is mandating that
school districts will have a tax rate
that is compressed and that they
will not be allowed to move
beyond that point. The state has
greater control over school district
tax rates, and they are making sure
that once they come down, school
districts cannot raise them back
up-
on the debt side of the tax
rate, the only way that any large
increases would occur is if the vot-
ers give approval for any new
bonds to take care of future facili-
ty needs. However, you as a voter
coptrol that type of increase.
/ “Most of what I have been
hearing and reading in the
newspaper is positive toward
passing the bonds. I haven't
heard or read anything on the
other side. I believe people
should get a more balanced pic-
ture so they can make an intelli-
gent decision on the matter.
There's some information out
there that we’re not getting”
An attempt has been made by
the district to answer any and all
questions posed on the bond issue.
Community meetings have been
scheduled and held to allow voters
the chance to hear information
first-hand and to ask questions.
Members of the community have
been invited to contact the admin-
istration for any information on
the subject. Infonnation has also
been posted on the district website
to provide all infonnation that is
available on the matter.
The final community meet-
ing will be held on Tuesday. May
8 at 7:00 in the high school cafeto-
rium.
The district will also host a dis-
trict-wide Open House on
Thursday. May 3 from 6:00 8:(X)
p.m.. to give the community the
opportunity to tour the district’s become obsolete and whose
facilities.
“I hate to saddle my chil-
dren and my grandchildren
with debt that they are going to
have to repay over the next 25
years."
The days of school districts
being able to build up enough
fund balance to pay cash for a
school building have passed. The
rising cost of construction, and the
increased demands on schools to
meet the various code and stan-
dards for school construction, now
I’m Glad You Asked - Questions
Concerning the D1SD Bond Issue
(From Page 1)
DELEON SURVIVORS. Judy Sadberry, Jean Westmoreland, and Susie King were among the
DeLeon residents participating during the “survivor’s lap” at the Comanche County Relay for
Life, Friday night.
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RELAY FOR LIFE. The weather was perfect for the 10th annual Comanche County Relay for
Life Friday night, April 27 and a good number showed up to participate. Shown above are
those participating in the “Survivor’s Lap” which got the event underway.
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RELAY. The Boy Scouts from DeLeon Troop 37 were among those who participated in Friday
night’s Comanche County Relay for Life. They’re pictured above just before starting their first
lap around the track.
254-693-5660 (OFFICE)
254-396-5713 (cell)
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SCREENS AND MORE. Members of the DeLeon Chamber of Commerce gathered for a rib-
bon-cutting at Screens and More. DeLeon s newest downtown business. Wielding the scis-
sors it business owner Billie Lightfoot
ANIMAL CLINIC. The owners of 46 pets took advantage of the City’s animal clinic last
Saturday, and had their pets registered and vaccinated in front of City Hall. Shown here are
animal control officer Chuck Crawford,Lucy the dachshund, Lucy’s owner, and Dr. Mike Burk.
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Del .eon Free Press/ Thursday, May 3, 2007/ Page 15
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Kestner, Laura. De Leon Free Press (De Leon, Tex.), Vol. 116, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 3, 2007, newspaper, May 3, 2007; De Leon, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1243827/m1/15/?rotate=0: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Comanche Public Library.