The first replacement levy is for the 1% income tax to only apply to “earned income” and will be for a continuing period of time.  This would provide a tax break to retired senior citizens because retirement income, IRA distributions, alimony, profit from rental activities, and interest would be among the types of income no longer taxed.

The Substitute Emergency levy replaces the current 2.9 mill property tax originally passed in 1990.  This existing levy provides $812,000 per year.  It will also be for a continuing period of time.

Continuation of these levies is vital to fund our instructional and extracurricular programs, both now and into the foreseeable future.  Replacing the expiring levies as described would put the district on solid financial footing and allow all of us, both in the community and schools, to focus on education instead of facing repeated costly elections.  These levies simply meet the financial needs of the district as it attempts to provide quality education in the most cost effective manner.

BUILDING PLANS ON HOLD

Due to the need to replace the levies described above for daily operation of the schools, a levy to construct new buildings has been put on hold.  We believe new buildings would be safer, accessible to children and adults with disabilities and more energy efficient than our current facilities.  The Board has recognized the need to provide modern facilities with lower annual maintenance costs since 2000.  We hope to ask the voters again in the future to approve a building plan that provides adequate student space in an environment that is safe and conducive for learning.