Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

What is the effective milage?

Mr. Rigelman, Do you know if the milage on the minimum milage levy stays at 11 mils or does it decrease and has a lower effective milage rate each year the property valuation increases in the district? Clearly there was a promise made and I read it in the paper and the quote was credited to board member Debbie Carlier.

By Voting No

Nothing is Assured

All that is assured, as a matter of law,is that the County Treasurer much collect enough revenue each year to pay that year's debt service. With the ''minimal new millage'' structure, the annual debt service is scheduled to double before beginning a gradual decline.

If Fifth Third's assumptions concerning growth of our tax base held true, the millage would increase slightly, but not come close to doubling, during the life of the bonds. I do not know, however, whether those assumptions have borne out.

If you wish, however, you can check the County Treasurer's web site to see the millage that is being collected this year to service these bonds. I might do so myself this morning. If I do, I'll let you know.

The key point, however, is that the ''minimal new millage'' concept ignores the fact that increases in the PLSD's tax base will invariably be accompanied by increases in our student population, requiring the building of more new schools. Unless the millage for old schools declines with growth in the tax base, however, those new schools will be significantly harder to afford. Of equal significance, the ''minimal new millage'' bond structure will increase our total interest expense for the North/Lakeview facility by approximately 20%; and this structure induced us to spend more on these facilities than we could afford.

Living the Lie

Mr. Rigelman

It appears that the architect of this $77 Million finance package was planning a future for the Pickerington Local School District and a constant rate of increased growth for the next 28 years. Since money appears to be one of the major obstacles in passing a school levy wouldn't it be advisable to explore ways to ''refinance or to improve'' this repayment schedule to our district creditors? At the very least make it understandable.

I think it would be advisable to take a hard long look at the bonds and other lending instruments we are using to pay this money back. Maybe we need to bite the bullet in the short run and take on this expensive refinancing issue.

It also appears to me that there may have been some Mal-Practice in the legal and financial advise the district received in 2000/2001. I think it might be advisable to explore the options of that as well. Was all of this advice and information presented to the school accurate and honest? Was there a true ''truth in lending'' going on here with the taxpayers of this school district? Was the ads that promoted the ''minimum milage levy'' telling the truth? Where did the levy supporters get their truth?

Maybe it is time to find another law firm to investigate what actually happen and strapped our district taxpayers with this problem.

Then the final question is would the taxpayers of the Pickerington School District have passed this bond levy in 2001 if they had know the truth and just how much they would be paying in the future?

We continue to live this lie and it is having a negative effect on our voters and how they perceive the district and its operation.

By Voting No

So What Should The Kids Do?

Dear Voting No,

While I don't comletely understand the intricacies of the conversation between you and Bruce Rigelman, I am sure the BOE has made mistakes in the past. One drive past PHSN confirms this. I agree that people who are more financially savvy need to be elected to the BOE. It appears as though, however, that isn't happening.

So my question for you is this - what should the kids do when we run out of room to educate them? Should we print off this discussion thread and give it to them, hoping they'll understand that adults within the district are more than happy to complain about the BOE and vote down bond issues and operating levies, but not one will step forward to help fix any of it? Yes, we all have a responsibility to ensure that our tax dollars are being spent wisely. We also have a responsibility, and I believe this one is greater, to ensure that the next generation is being educated.

What are your alternatives, besides posting about economics on a discussion area?

''If you think education is expensive, try ignorance'' - Derek Bok