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Why the "promise"
that the Red Plan
will only cost Duluth Taxpayers $125 million is a fraud.
Dr. Dixon has written this. Senator Yvonne Prettner has
repeated it before the House Tax Committee. Now this is what David Ross has
written: “residents will see a $125 million tax impact.”
This is a remote possibility. Its a
little like telling a child who has the theoretical possibility of growing up to
be President of the United States that he or she will in fact become President.
It could happen but there aren't any guarantees.
These are the facts. The District has told the State Dept of Education that it
will cost $437 million (since revised to $407 million) to pay for the Red Plan.
The
County
Auditor
is currently levying only 46% of this cost against
Duluth
School District
taxpayers. 54% of the Red Plan’s costs have yet to be levied. Dr. Dixon is
promising that they won’t be levied now or ever over the twenty years it will
take to pay off the Red Plan. The money to pay for the new schools will instead
come out of school operations…..the classroom.
First,
Dr. Dixon can not make promises for future school boards. This school board may
follow him in lock step but future boards are unlikely to honor the promise of
one of the most unpopular school boards in
Duluth
’s history.
Second,
removing $11 million dollars from school operations each year will gut our brand
new schools leaving over crowed classrooms and limited programs.
Third,
The cuts being talked about by this school board for next year are so draconian
that they can give no thinking person any confidence in this school board’s
decision making ability.
Four,
Behind the promise is a threat to wit: “If you don’t give us what the School
Board wants and pass the operational levy in the fall we will make terrible cuts
to the classroom and it will be the fault of the voters.
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