Home 
Opinion Editorials Good to see board drop excise tax idea
Good to see board drop excise tax idea
|
The La Grande school board was wise to not pursue placing an excise tax on new local construction as allowed by Oregon Senate Bill 1036. Yes, the tax — 50 cents or $1 per square foot depending on type of project — likely would have raised $100,000 or more a year for the district, perhaps as much as $2 million over 20 years. But that’s just about all the good that can be said for it. On the down side, the school board would have earned the enmity of an entire community by enacting the tax. To put it simply, people don’t take kindly to taxation by decree. Without doubt, they’d be thinking of that when the next school bond measure comes up for a vote, possibly in November. And they’d also be wondering why in Sam Hill they should approve that measure when the district is already collecting an excise tax. As La Grande High social studies teacher Jerry Sebestyn noted after the board decided not to impose the tax, the dollar amount would not be worth the political ill will. As bad as the district needs $100,000 a year, it needs passage of the bond measure more. A body doesn’t have to look too hard to find another reason to dislike the excise tax idea. Consider the stagnant state of La Grande’s economy. This is a town that needs more, not less, new construction. It’s a town that doesn’t want to see builders of new homes or businesses deciding on other locales to avoid paying that $1 or 50-cent-per-square-foot tax. If ever there was a school district in need of funds, La Grande is it. A bond levy in the mid-1970s allowed for construction of the middle school, Island City Elementary School and a wing of the high school. No new permanent buildings have gone up since then. The shop maintenance building constructed more than nine decades ago is still in use. Kids still take physical education classes in the middle school annex gym that was built in the 1930s. Infrastrucure, including the heating system, is hopelessly outdated. On top of all that, there is a crying need for more classroom space throughout the district. Now, it’s up to the school board to study the situation carefully and come up with a levy amount people will consent to live with. Then it’s up to all of us to look into our hearts and admit that without good schools, we’re nothing as a community. It’s up to us to get behind our young people and give them the advantages they need to learn, to compete and to grow. |
