Shiawassee - Don’t Let Them Not Raise Taxes
May 24th, 2007 | by christine |I see that Owosso Public Schools cut about a dozen employees, to save about $1,212,965 for the 2007-2008 school year.
I’m guessing the savings to the school district isn’t just a matter of salaries. Let’s figure that 35% of that savings is in benefits. Where’s that get us?
About $788,427.25 in wages lost to our local economy.
Awesome.
Feeling good about that $75 per year that Valde Garcia has saved you by obstructing the Gov’s budget plan? If you live in the Owosso school district, all it cost you was a school super, a tech director, some admin staff, some maintenance guys, a 6th grade teacher, a social studies teacher, and 2 special ed teachers.
Well, that’s not all that it cost you, but that’s all it cost you last Tuesday night, when the Owosso Board of Education voted on the cuts.
I especially like the part where the special education teachers are cut. Because as you know, we have too many special ed teachers. Special ed kids get too much attention anyway and their parents are always so demanding.
Ok, I’ll take a 2 paragraph break from the snark … this could mean that OPS will be moving towards inclusive education. Basically that means that special ed kids are integrated into mainstream classrooms, rather than being separated into their own rooms. Inclusion does cost more per student, but students benefit more from inclusion than special ed.
But … *sigh* … I suspect it more likely means that special ed kids will be in bigger classrooms, or be shipped off to some other school of choice.
Well, screw those kids. If they want to go to Owosso schools then they shouldn’t have special needs. What’s so special about them anyway?
Ok! Let’s just do some math, to prove how smart we are.
15,713 people living in Owosso in 2000.
At approximately $5.32 per month in taxes not paid …
Comes to $1,086,711.08 that the Republican Senate has saved the residents of Owosso, by obstructing the Governor’s budget.
Let’s see … $1,212,965 lost in wages & benefits, divided by $1,086,711 saved by not paying taxes …
Well that’s about $1.12 lost for every $1 saved.
A net loss of $126,254.
Owosso should fire the math teachers too. Math is bad for politics.
Admittedly, the math isn’t really that simple. Owosso School District is bigger than the City of Owosso, so there are more taxpayers contributing, and the total taxes paid via Granholm’s budget plan would add up to more than what I have here. Not every dollar in lost wages would’ve been spent in Shiawassee. Population has changed since 2000. Rabble rabble. Sure, there are a lot of factors in the equation.
But Shiawassee is also looking at more than just one round of cuts at one school district. Remember Medicaid? Remember revenue sharing? Remember the additional cuts to education? And none of this takes into account the ripple effect. $1 in lost wages translates to $1-$1.5 in lost consumer spending.
But the bottom line is, no matter how you add this up, Shiawassee is going to lose revenue, property value, and quality of life. $75 per year in tax savings will not buy you a cop or a fireman or a special ed teacher for your kid. The only jobs your $75 will create will be jobs at Wal-Mart, where you can buy a dvd player for $60. No offense to Wal-Mart employees, but I’d rather have cops and firemen and teachers.
Call Dick Ball and Valde Garcia and tell them to support a tax increase. A minor tax increase is a net gain for Shiawassee, and we all agree that Shiawassee needs the money.
It’s time for Shiawassee to get selfish. Don’t let them not raise taxes.
