Support the 1/2 cent sales tax ! It works as an overall tax DECREASE.
How? By paying cash for new buildings, eliminating financing and interest expenses, the cost to taxpayers is literally half.
A new high school will take $50 million to develop. A 1/2 cent sales tax will generate $51 million each year. But since visitors pay 25% of all sales taxes, the cost to Lee Residents will be $37.5 million. Financing that same building over 20 years at 5% has a cost today of $72.4 million..paid with property taxes!
The School District already has $448 million in debt on the books from financing past schools and this is a real problem. The surest way to reduce expenses for the district is to become a “Pay as we go” program.
George Fox
Member LCSD Finance Advisory Committee