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What a great idea. Allow people to vote for bonds, fees and higher taxes. Then due to an exemption, they can exempt themselves from paying!!
"Two years after voters living in the Santa Barbara School District approved parcel taxes aimed at shoring up school budgets, the district is asking the same voters to approve a pair of bond measures for campus capital improvements.
While the four measures all tackle school funding, the details between the two sets are significant. One of the differences is a senior opt-out for Measures H and I, which passed in 2008 and were intended to support math, science, foreign languages, arts and music programs. Another is the threshold needed for approval between a tax and a bond, which is a simple majority for the latter and a two-thirds majority for the former."
How many have exempted themselves? "In 2009-2010, district officials say, 123 senior citizens opted out of the tax for the elementary district and 187 seniors opted out for the secondary district. Officials said that number ballooned for 2010-2011, with 231 seniors opting out of the tax at the elementary level and 400 at the secondary level increases of 88 percent and 114 percent, respectively.
The senior opt-out has equated to a loss of $6,237 for the elementary district and a loss of $9,200 for the secondary district for the 2010-2011 period, according to district officials."
Wait till the seniors really know they can save money! This is just the start of a bad trend. Oh well, local governments and school districts are in the midst of fiscal collapse anyway, this will accelerate it.
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"Two years after voters living in the Santa Barbara School District approved parcel taxes aimed at shoring up school budgets, the district is asking the same voters to approve a pair of bond measures for campus capital improvements.
While the four measures all tackle school funding, the details between the two sets are significant. One of the differences is a senior opt-out for Measures H and I, which passed in 2008 and were intended to support math, science, foreign languages, arts and music programs. Another is the threshold needed for approval between a tax and a bond, which is a simple majority for the latter and a two-thirds majority for the former."
How many have exempted themselves? "In 2009-2010, district officials say, 123 senior citizens opted out of the tax for the elementary district and 187 seniors opted out for the secondary district. Officials said that number ballooned for 2010-2011, with 231 seniors opting out of the tax at the elementary level and 400 at the secondary level increases of 88 percent and 114 percent, respectively.
The senior opt-out has equated to a loss of $6,237 for the elementary district and a loss of $9,200 for the secondary district for the 2010-2011 period, according to district officials."
Wait till the seniors really know they can save money! This is just the start of a bad trend. Oh well, local governments and school districts are in the midst of fiscal collapse anyway, this will accelerate it.
More...