There does seem to be some misleading information surrounding the bond issue.
One point is that 16 percent of the bond issue, $5.8 million, would got to the sports complex west of the high school. It's only a piece of the whole.
Second point is about costs. A couple comments to the last post said it will cost $3,000 per resident, or $6,000 for taxpayers for a new stadium.
The $3,000 number looks like it comes from taking the whole $35.8 mil and dividing by the population of Ark City, 12,000. I suppose you could argue this but practicaly speaking, locally, only property owners will pay for this and it averages to about $70 year for a house of $100,000, according to USD 470 figures. Over the 20 year life of the bond, that's $1,400. The number will be less if you have a cheaper house, more if you have a more expensive house.
Also, with 50 percent of the total being funded by the state, about $17.5 million will come from taxpayers throughout the state. It's certainly tax money, but that's money being collected on residents througout the state that would go somewhere else.
Not sure where the $6,000 figure came from. Certainly nobody is going to be taxed that much for this bond, unless they have lots of property or very expensive property ....
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2 comments:
In re-thinking, you're right. A large part of the funding would come from businesses operating in Ark City.
It would be interesting to know if the $70 /$100K figure is with or without homestead exemption.
Property owners who have rental properties and those with business properties don't qualify for homestead exemption. The taxes on these properties will be much higher than on those with homestead exemption.
Rental property owners and apartment owners will simply pass the additional costs on to the renters.
So, everybody that lives in Arkansas City pays, one way or another. People who live in AC who have businesses they own will pay twice and then some.
Thanks David for setting this straight. Have to wonder where all the misinformation comes from. Only answer is to keep giving the facts. It is too bad that only the sports complex gets most of the attention. This is much bigger than that. This will help bring all our school system facilities up to 21st Century standard, i.e. buildings, communications, sports, security, HVAC...
Again, most of us spend much more than that eating out, or on some other expenditure. I ask that we keep in mind that these recommendations came from a group of concerned citizens. This did not come from the School Board or School system. WE recommended this after MONTHS of careful review and careful consideration and actually visiting our local schools personally. We realized it would cost. Anything worthwhile costs. But, in weighing the cost and considering the need and the alternative, these recommendations were born. (It must be noted that an opportunity to have the State pay 50% may never come again)
I guess A.C. is being given an opportunity to think about the future. The future of our children. Our buildings are aging by the day.
Will we go forward or choose to go backward? There is no neutral.
Respectfully,
knightrules1
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