Editor:
Whether you are for Re-1s debt proposal of up to $37.1 million, and tax increase up to $1.855 million annually or against it, one has to admire the efforts Re-1 has orchestrated to get this enormous tax increase passed during a time of extreme economic uncertainty and hardship. Even the wording of the ballot where it says the county does not have to repay the state for its financial assistance, while correct is misleading. The taxpayer pays state taxes from which this financial assistance comes from.
Note information sent to registered voters advises total bond repayment can be as great as $37.1 million, or an additional $15.85 million above the $21.25 million.
If a new building is Re-1s answer to the deplorable system they call education, perhaps we need to replace them all. The underlying problem with our education system is not its lack of shining new facilities, but in the curriculum and those administering it and our tax-education dollars. This building issue has proven to be a distraction from a thoughtful discussion of the real issue of how to educate and has spared Re-1 some hard questions. But thats another discussion.
Whoever gets elected president and whatever party then controls Congress, we taxpayers face a tsunami of new federal taxes because of the nations unsustainable spending and accumulated debt, now estimated as $16 trillion plus an additional $60 trillion for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Add to this tax burden for Colorado, the dubious distinction of being one of the top ten states that has huge unfunded state pensions. This funding can only come through new taxes. Montezuma County also faces a potential $1 million lawsuit loss. Throughout the nation municipalities are struggling with debt and rising costs which are forcing cuts in municipal services.
Is this the future we want for ourselves and our children? Taking on such burdensome debt while the economy is teetering on recession or worse is foolhardy.
Art Requena
Cortez
Via email
Editors note: According to the Colorado Department of Education Division of Public School Capital Construction Assistance, the revenue sources for the BEST Program are State Land Trust funds and Colorado Lottery spillover funds. The money is not generated through taxes.
