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The numbers are in, and Measure “I”
Measure I will cost Ripon property owners approximately $14,000 per household over 40 years. The current RUSD bond request means your household will be on the hook for approximately $20,000 in extra school bond taxes.
Ripon Schools want to take $20,000 from your family in the form of new taxes, $12,000 of which is interest- the schools will never get that money.
Of the $88 Million Measure, I will cost tax payers, only $38 Million will go to the schools. The other $50 Million will be interest payments.
That means Ripon property owners will be on the hook for $113 Million in bonds, with no promise of matching funds. More importantly, there is no guarantee that more bond requests aren’t coming down the line from RUSD.
Who really pays the tab? Property owners – but it doesn’t stop there. Those who worked hard for nicer houses or multiple properties are required to pay more – as one supporter pointed out: “if you can afford a $400,000 house, you can afford to pay more taxes!”, or “landlords in this town make enough – let them pay their fair share”. This sounds more like the bay area than Ripon.
People say “it's for the kids”, but what lesson does this teach the kids? That they should mortgage their future with more government debt?
The system of debt-spend-tax is unsustainable, especially when in the long run it strips the community of $50M in interest payments that could be used better locally.
Bonds like Measure I reward the current system where schools ignore/defer maintenance, then go back to tax-payers for more money, then repeat. All the while Governor Brown and the State are keeping the money we have already paid for the schools.
Much blame is laid at the foot of the facilities that are several decades old. It does not make sense to finance $88M for 40 years, for facilities that will be outdated again in 20 years. It’s a never-ending cycle of debt if allowed to continue.
This bond, if passed, won’t be paid until the Ripon High Class of 2059 is crossing the stage. These kids won’t even be born until 2041. In fact, many of the property owners who will be paying this interest off aren’t even born yet; but this vote will appear on their property tax statements!
Here are the hard numbers: Ripon Schools want to get $38 Million from a bond, and are willing to spend $88 Million of your dollars to make it happen. What can your household do with $20,000 instead?
A Vote for Measure “I” isn’t for investment, it is for Irresponsible Interest payments.
Responsible taxpayers vote NO on Measure I, the numbers just don’t add up.
-Paid Advertisement from No on Measure I
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