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Tag: School Bonds

Closing Argument In Opposition To A $100 million Bond Request

By JGillman, Section News
Posted on Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 12:10:11 PM EST
Tags: Traverse City, ichigan, TCAPS, School Bonds, $100 million, $26.5 Million Performing Arts Center, waste, Maintenance, Restoration, Slush Funds (all tags)

Traverse City Area Public Schools are asking for a $100 million dollar bond approval. At great expense and use of time, I have been in opposition of this continued abuse of the taxpayers. This is a Re-post from GROW.TC
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The election is upon us.

Voters will decide if it is worth forcing property owners to pay an additional 0.8 mil in taxes for the luxury of a Performing Art Center, destruction of wealth, and an open ended slush fund for the school district's physical desires. Part of the plan is of course to extend the FULL 3.9mil an additional 5 years.

~ If the bond request passes. ~

Lets clarify the slices of pie TCAPs is asking the taxpayers to put on its plate.

The Performing Arts Center

Sunday's (November 04, 2012) Record Eagle ad and also similar postcards sent out by TCAPS Citizens for Students in its pie graph uses the term "CHS Renovation" to represent its current version of the $26.5 million Performing Arts Center. This language is now consistent, and closely matches that of School board member Scott Hardy who advised the TCAPS board to deceive voters with the language "renovation" rather than face an obvious backlash for a perceived and very real luxury of "Performing Arts Center".

The pie shows it as a 16% component of proposed projects, which is also misleading in the way it suggests that it is a 'small part' of the overall project. The 16% figure is arrived at by taking the already approved and remaining from 2007 $65 million bond, and adding it to the requested $100 million on this go-round. $26.5 million is exactly 16% of $165 million.

The other deception the TCAPS board and its shill organization (TCAPS Citizens for Students - which is coincidentally run by a finance director for the schools, and funded by the local chamber) attempts, is the canard that it is ONLY $18 million that is being spent on the auditorium. They explain that the other amounts are for "school improvements, office moves, and new entry areas." Though all of those can be verifiably true, they also gloss over the fact that without the auditorium, NONE of the additional improvements would be necessary.

The Performing arts Center is in fact, the sole source of the "CHS renovation" expense.

Continued below.

(3 comments, 1084 words in story) Full Story