The same group of concerned citizens who successfully helped stop a Fiscally Irresponsible $11 Million Dollar Bond by CCUSD are now organizing to urge a NO Vote on the CCUSD Override. Please donate to help pay for "vote no" signs and texting campaigns.
The unrelated DM Breakfast Club best described the case against the Override:
We do not have a conservative majority on the Cave Creek Unified School District Board (CCUSD), so uncontrolled spending continues without priority or auditing.
Two years ago in 2021, you defeated the $40M CCUSD Bond. Voters were asked to approve a 20-year bond that would have raised property taxes significantly.
It was based on a poorly developed business case to fund a host of projects that might be needed in our schools, but, we really didn't know. The left-controlled CCUSD Board and Administration would not open the books for an audit. This same lack of transparency and thirst for new tax revenue continues today.
What we do know is CCUSD seems to have money to increase administrator salaries and bonuses, but they have nothing for priority CCUSD educational needs. Are we to believe spending more for "administration" of CCUSD is the top priority when enrollments are declining? (see the CCUSD Override Presentation)
Why collect more taxes if there is not a thorough understanding of current spending? This is Business 101 and you made the right decision in voting down the CCUSD Bond proposition.
Now, they are proposing CCUSD residents approve a "Maintenance Override" of 15% for seven years to raise teacher's salaries. This means they want you to approve going over budget by 15% for 7 years to pay teachers more. This will be on the November 8th ballot.
Let's be clear. A Maintenance Override of the CCUSD Budget is a TAX INCREASE.
How much tax?
As stated in Slide 34 of the CCUSD Override Presentation, the model estimates a homeowner would pay approximately $190 per year for each $1M of property value.
On your 2023 PROPERTY VALUATION NOTICE, take the 2023 LPV (Limited Property Value), ASSESSED VALUE column and multiply it by 0.0019. The product represents your annual property tax increase to pay for the Maintenance Override.
It is a civic responsibility to pay for high quality teachers. However, CCUSD has prioritized money for many other things than teacher salaries. Until there is fiscal transparency and education-focused priorities in place, new taxes would be a poor investment. Right now, we do not know if taxes are needed.
Yes, everyone wants to help our teachers. The well-paid administration can do this by showing us how they are spending all our money.They can do this by showing how teachers are highly prioritized in the budget spend.After this is accomplished, then a new tax discussion is warranted provided there is still a shortfall to accomplishing top priorities.
VOTE NO! on CCUSD Override
