I didn’t realize how much my gagging my blog had cooled me off. Blogging again has reawakened my ardor to fight the Red Plan’s injustice.
One of the few Red Plan partisans that I’ve found who is still seriously interested in debate is Bob. Our emails started off a little testy but we’ve both backed off and have exchanged not just civil but serious challenges to each other.
Bob took issue with reaction to the accusation that I was passing on disinformation. I haven’t seriously laid out financial considerations for a long time but the email he sent me today forced me to revisit my laundry list of financial considerations. Here’s his email today:
—– Original Message —–
From: bob
To: Harry Welty
Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 2:35 AM
Subject: disinformationThis disinformation that commenter “Greg R” was likely referring to was your statement of vastly increased taxes after the most recent bonding for the Red Plan when you know as well as I do that any and all tax increases as related to the Red Plan have already happened. You have stated on your blog that these costs will continue to rise and increase dramatically after various actions of the board have been taken. You act like you are so smart on your blog and I believe you are, but I also find it amazing that you could overlook such an obvious statement. The tax increases have already happened and no huge increase will happen again.
And here is my reply to Bob:
Bob,
Here are a couple things to think about.
1. The taxes promised ignore the increase in home valuations that will occur annually. My home increased in value from $47,000 to $150,000 over the twenty years I’ve lived in it. Tax increases will go up in tandem with the assessed value of my home. When the District told us two years ago that the cost of the Red Plan on any given house was X it ignored the fact that the value of the house would continue to rise ballooning the Red Plan tax.
2. The Red Plan was craftily set up to increase annually by 5% over the next twenty years. The MN Dept of Ed staff told me this was unusual. It was obviously done to make the initial payments look much smaller. Compounding over time will significantly increase the taxes on any given residence.
3. The District tried to get the MDE to accept forecasts of decreased spending into the funding formula from anticipated savings based on energy efficiencies and staff cuts. The MDE didn’t buy it. But the District is still pedaling this line to tax payers. But energy savings will not materialize with JCI air conditioners being installed in every building and increased travel for buses hauling kids to more distant schools. And the staff savings are greatly exaggerated. Most of the staff reductions have nothing to do with our having fewer buildings. The School Board has simply reduced staff so that it could have more operational money to apply toward the Red Plan financing. If a future school board decides that crowding classrooms should be reversed taxes will go up accordingly to pay for more staff.
4. If you have recently retired and are on a fixed income you will find the Red Plan’s costs to be increasingly burdensome. Mike Jaros was talking to me about how a number of years ago the state legislature eased off on property taxes for business and expensive homes. This put a greater burden on more modest homes. This helps explain why some of the classier neighborhoods in Duluth sport so many lawnsigns for incumbent school board members. These homeowners simply aren’t feeling the pain. The property tax is a regressive tax meaning that it falls most heavily on the poor and that includes renters whose landlords must pay increased taxes that do not have the benefit of homesteading reductions. The landlords pass their tax increases on to their renters.
I’m not math whiz Bob, but when I was on the School Board I absolutely trusted the folks in the Business Office to give me the most accurate financial information possible. Today any staff member who reports anything that might compromise the happy talk about the Red Plan can expect to find his position on the next round of staff cuts.
Based on two years worth of digging I don’t trust a thing this School District says about anything related to the Red Plan. When I’m accused of spreading disinformation I simply consider the source.
Harry
