District’s reserves are halved as tax-hike vote nears
December 10, 2012 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
The Duluth school district’s fund reserve, $6.8 million a year ago, has sunk to nearly half that total. Avoiding further loss is the impetus for the School Board’s vote next week on an 11.9 percent tax increase.
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No Gronseth, people don’t understand how Duluth sacrificed education for shiny new buildings. People also don’t like being lied to by the Board when Wasson and Judy insisted they were not transferring funds to pay for the Red Plan. People don’t understand how at every turn when projects could have come in under budget they added expensive upgrades. THATS what is wrong with the money, don’t blame it on a bad real estate market.Dixon/JCI knew that going into this scheme.
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“No one likes to see their taxes go up, but most people I talk to understand,” Gronseth said.
Who has he been talking to??? The entire school administration is in denial. Our school portion of our taxes has gone up 22 percent in 3 years. And yet we pass the hat for art supplies and have 40+ kids in some classrooms.
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Stop giving our school buildings away for a $1 (lincoln).
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The sad truth is that they wont get anything near what they projected for these vacant schools.
Central?…once projected to take in 14 million will probably go for 3-4 million… if they are lucky. Central would have a replacement cost of 60-70 million in todays dollars. Nice way to manage our money.
From the districts Red Plan webpage….note the “Use savings to support educational programs”
Summer 2010
Building a Stronger Education System
An Update on the Long-Range Facilities Plan
—————————————————————-
How Does the LRFP
Improve Educational Opportunities?
- Reduces operating costs
− Consolidate building space, increase efficiencies
− Use savings to support educational programs
- Modernizes facilities
- Places schools where students will live
- Provides equity throughout district
- Ensures stability for 20+ years
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still standing by my belief that Central will be the new casino. It moves the old casino out of the chamber of commerce idea for the “new arts” area of downtown, which will become a total ghost town.
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Central could provide space to expand the low income housing project on top of the hill. Just think of the view! I mean they already have pothole free streets….why not a great view of the harbor? Central is situated at too high of an elevation to be the terminal for the Northern Lights Express.
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Central would make a great high school.
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Anyone who thinks this will be the last of the property tax hikes to pay for the School Board’s inconceived Red Plan is a slow learner! Revenues continue to plunge for Duluth’s schools yet they have several brand new shiny corvettes that still have 360 payment coupons in the book to pay.
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Shove an ill-concieved Red plan down our throat.Ask for more money every year,simply because the Red Plan is a failure,and the Board has no
clue how to manage money. People on Social Security will receive a 1.8% cost of living raise.I think the county wants around a 1.5% increase in taxes.The school-board wants 11.9%,and we haven’t included the City,and their wish list.Time for the school-board to admit their mistakes,fix their problem,and stop asking the public to bail them out every year.
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I’ve got it –> Just ask Johnson Controls for an estimate of how much we could get for selling all our schools’ textbooks! I’m sure they’ll tell us we’ll get an amount somewhere between $30-$90 Million for them… “when they sell”….
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I’m lovin’ it!!! As the entire country was heading into a depression our illustrious screwel board decided it was a good time to p*ss away $300 million of taxpayers money on monuments to the screwel boards egos. Shouldn’t the screwel board have been able to anticipate reduced income from the State? Shouldn’t the screwel board have been able to open their eyes and see the fiscal uncertainty we all were heading into at the time? Even ordinary Joes like me saw the handwritting on the wall. Obviously the screwel board was too wrapped up in their own monuments to see reality. Now in the depths of the depression with taxpayers getting laid off or having their hours cut and losing their homes the screwel board continues to fiddle as did Nero while Rome burned. Hasn’t the screwel board heard the country, the state and the individuals are in a very bad way these days? Shouldn’t the screwel board find ways to “make do” as so many of the rest of us are haveing to do?
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When is tar and feather day of the School Board members? I need to put in my calendar so I don’t miss it. Current members are taking the heat on this, while Dixon and JCI are laughing all the way to bank. Where is Tyler Nord and Occupy, because JCI is one of those big bad corporations they protest about.
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Tyler Nord is hopefully in prison.
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The school board members who were originally involved in the decision to go with the red plan should out of common decency, if any of them are still there, resign from their positions. They have no credibility and everything they say and do will bring hostile reactions from many within the community. This school board fiascal reminds me of when the then Mayor Doty pushed for and got a freshwater acquarium down on the bay front promising much but delivering very little even at a time when the acquarium in the Mall of America was going broke. How is it people without the experience or knowledge feel that they have the ability to make decisions with other peoples money when many hold jobs that does not afford them the same opportunity in such a complex world..
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We have no money for schools but the IRRRB has half a million dollars to bribe super rich Hollywood jerks to come here and make fun of us.
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This is outrageous. Another tax increase crammed down our throats without our vote. And No (Gronseth) we don’t understand how you think it is ok to come back to the taxpayer for any more money, let alone an outrageous increase of 11.9 percent on top of the increases you already have. The total incompetence of this school board allowed Dixon and Johnson Controls to orchestrate the biggest tax payer rip off in state history. We demand an audit and accountability before they take another penny.
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Think about it fellow taxpayers. When is the last time you received a 11.9% pay increase?
What world are these people living in.
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Central could have been sold to a charter school the moment they closed its doors but there is a clause preventing its sale to another school. God forbid we have another charter school competing with our public schools! Just remember every year when your taxes rise yet again that “It’s all for the children. Don’t you like children?” Give me a break!
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