Voters reject Van Detta proposal in big turn out

Yea, we did it!!!! Thank you to everyone who went out to vote. Now we just need to see what they are going to do to the school budget and remember to vote on that too.

Two bags of Weed and feed is $40. Learn from the colleges and pro fields who have gone back to grass. What do you want, clean uniforms or broken bones? Concrete doesn't yield.

Actualy theres no proof that Turf feilds increase injuries. Ive fallen an many grass and a few turf feilds. It hurt equaly.

But seriously, I hope a disabiled person sues the school disrtics becasue they cant get into the bathrooms, or cant get safely up the ramps to the stands, and ends up costing you more then just doing the renivations. Its going to happen and the na sayers are going to look stupid

Scenario: Man in a wheelchair comes to see a game. Wants to go up onto the stands, the ramps a pretty steep, ends up rolling backwards cracks his head open. Sues the district for $1mil (totaly plausbly), and theyre forced to make the upgrades, and the fundings not there now. UH OH. Now what? Citys has to scramble to find the money to make the upgrades that could have been done here.

Ill admit the turf feild wasnt entirly nessary, but the upgrades to that big blue monster were. I doubt any of you have been in those locker rooms in a long time. But hey, well see what happens.

Jacob, they, and I say they, because I no longer live in the area and didn't vote. I would have voted no. But I know that they voted no, because of the poor way in which this project was proposed. There isn't a person that wouldn't say yes to making the ramp safe. BTW that ramp has been there for quite awhile and it hasn't happened yet has it. Try some optimism and doesn't hurt! But this would have been a frivolous expense as far as I would be concerned. I'm a person who roamed those halls in the fall of 91. That stadium with the small coaches office, and old lockers, produced the best Football Team to ever set foot on that field! But I'm also a person who doesn't believe that every kid deserves a trophy! Sadly, this is how a lot of parents are these days. This money would be spent in a better place, maybe teachers salaries, something crazy like that!

Uhm sorry Jacob but you are wrong....look at this

http://www.suite101.com/content/injuries-on-artificial-turf-versus-natu…

As it shows through studies, injuries are more frequent on turf vs grass. And this with a 4 sec google search.

As far as your wheelchair comments ... nothing is preventing them from making things handicapped accessible which I believe it already is for the most part.

Just like handicapped parking handicapped seating can be placed for easy access to bathrooms and avoidane of having to use ramps or stairs. This wouldnt cost 3.9 million to do either.

Our voters were very misinformed on this one. Have fun paying more taxes so another school can have better facilities. That's all that's going to happen now.

Had the proposal been only for updating handicapped access it probably would have passed.

I'm starting to think that maybe Batavia needs to funnel more money into it's English department.

Justin, as far as your concern about English goes, that's not possible. These projects are very specific. The schools receive them from the state and the state dictates what we are capable of using them on. Using this money on anything besides upgrading facilities in our district would be an illegal practice.

I couldn't vote but I believe the district mis-handled their finances. This could have been a very beneficial project for all the athletes and students and it seems as though the money was put in the wrong places.

Refer to the following:
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/howard-owens/25-highest-paid-public-employ…

An Administrator of Student Assessment that makes $117,000 per year... more than Judge Balbick makes and that job does what?... why can't that be someone for $50,000. Some of the math teachers make closer to $30,000 and I'm sure that they can handle whatever the data is. I'm not fully informed on this but it seems as though there has to be someway to save about $65,000 at this position. Then the taxpayers would only have to come up with $55,000 instead of $110,000. I'm sure that they can find a few more positions like this one that could be cut back

If the district had done better managing their money then maybe this wouldn't even have had to be voted on because they would have had the money.

Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't there an issue that came up with them managing their finances last year as well? Too much money paid out over contract or something like that? Maybe those in charge need to be held accountable.

Dylan, I know...I was making a joke at the expense of the very poor English/Writing skills used in a particular pair of previous comments.

Lets hope the school board gets the hint on the budget that is coming up...Quit with telling us about the poor kids and how they will suffer without playing games on astro turf..Think of us poor tax payers ...I would like to know how much did this all cost to have this vote..

I am absolutely sad to think that the future generations of children were not considered important enough to the voters today. This may be the most selfish act I have seen by a community in my life. If any of you could simply understand how much that place can change a child's life. That stadium can mean so much more to a child's life than a few dollars in your pockets when you retire. I have no smart remarks, no big incorrect facts to arbitrarily throw around, just absolute disappointment in this situation and the people involved.

Wow, Corey - you win the award for Most Melodramatic Comment of the Day.

They can now come back, with the money already put aside, and fix the building (ramp, showers, etc) that have public support. They will have to drop the parking lot and turf field and extras.

For the School Board to think that with high unemployment, budget cuts, waste in the district budget and assets that could be sold, and a general backlash towards government spending, that the taxpayer would approve this was a bit of arrogance.

All of the school cuts that are being made these days and you guys are worried about a turf feild? Get real! Spend your money on things you need, not things you can brag about to other school districts!

I guess this vote demonstrates pretty clearly that the voters are fed up with this board's policy of overbuilding everything they touch.
I have to believe that if this project was planned at a scale that was reasonable that it would have passed.
Yes...you have to address the public rest rooms. Yes, you probably have to address the access ramps and you might even have to do something with the field drainage (again) but it DOES NOT have to cost nearly $4 million.
The voters would have probably settled for a Chevy or even possibly a Buick, but (as is usually the case) the board seems to need a Caddy.
Oh and one more thing...SOMEONE from the administration or the Board office needs to come clean about the renovation project that was done approx. 10 years ago. See...the voters aren't as forgetful as they seem to think we are. Just explain it, whatever the result was. The truth shall set you free :)

Finally, thanks to Howard and The Batavian for allowing the public to comment on this and other issues in a forum that facilitates open discussion on issues. I have to believe that in BB time (Before Batavian) this vote probably passes.

The parking lot was one of the most nessary 'extra'. Have you ever driven in that area on game nights? Theres no road, just a sea of cars.

And without the project being aproved, the $1.6 mil grant that was being giving might not be there to improvement needed. So now you na sayers are gonna freak out when the school has to find a grant that gives them less money there for useing more of their own.

All the no voters looked at nothing more then the big ol' $3.9 mil number and made their choice.

And critizing grammar is the lowest form of argument in this situation, and proves you dont have a valid point to the issue

Phil,
They should have gone with needed upgrades to the building/bleachers. That would have passed.

The Board had nice to have things there in this, like the turf field, concession stand upgrade and the like. They also added some spending on buildings that are not related to the stadium. They overreached. And they can come back for bleacher repair.

As far as the contract with the Fire Dept., the city did a good job last time. Not great, but better than the past.

The Police contract is in arbitration, as you well know, and out of our hands. Again, you want the city police abolished, but the public support is not there.

As for the city tax increase, I was there, but where were you?

Yeah sure I think it'd be nice to get a new and improved stadium....but do we really need it ? No, we don't. The school district should be focusing on the things we NEED right now, not all the extra wants. You can make all the improvements for the handicap a lot cheaper than almost four million dollars.

Phil,
I'm not going to get into a urination contest with you. I will now as I have in the past, give you full credit for giving of your time as a budget ambassador for the district. That's something that I have not done.

As far as the issues with the City go, I don't know how those are germane to this discussion. I agree your positions on the municipal employee unions.

The fact of the matter is that the taxpayers in this district are fed up with the district's spending policies. Whether it goes to the number of administrators, to the overbuilt infrastructure in the face of declining population to this project...people have had enough and the board seems not to understand that.

As far as the "if we don't get the 'free' state money then some other district will" attitude that's exactly the mindset that helps to ruin this state's finances. How about if districts all across this state just stopped asking for and taking this so called "free" grant money from the state? You know as well as I do that money isn't free.

And for the record, if by referring to "union people" you're referring to me, I'm proud to say that I am not and never have been a member of a union in my 40+ year work life. I believe (as you pointed out above) that public employee unions and the power they wield contribute greatly to the fiscal mess this state and local communities are in.

There....that ought to start a $hit storm!

Maybe my comment was emotional, because I have an actual attachment to a facility that was really important to me and has helped me to become educated enough not to just criticize people without anything intelligent to say.
Just doing the math and it may be not fully correct, but less than $10 in taxes per household could have built something that churns out events, money, and students with high chances of attaining scholarships.
Does anyone realize, now they will just do the minimum things with no funding and raise the taxes anyways? Now if they propose that, all the "no voters" according to there arguments will have to vote yes because it is not overspending, though it will cost them just the same.
Bottom line is the BOE should have had a formal seminar(not a bad video) or something to educate people as to what money is going where so people could better understand how necessary this was before they start grabbing for their pitch fork and torches.
Obviously double the amount of usual voters turned out because they had people chirping in their ears and writing hate articles on this site instead of seeking actual information and problem solving.

Funny how this turned into a little bitch fest against unions. Cute!

Jacob: "And without the project being aproved, the $1.6 mil grant that was being giving might not be there to improvement needed. So now you na sayers are gonna freak out when the school has to find a grant that gives them less money there for useing more of their own."

No money was being "given". When you enter the real world, you will understand taxpayers' frustrations at the inordinate amount of our hard earned money is taken from us.

In the meantime, I suggest to you that improving your English and writing skills will take you further in life than a nicer shower and turf field.

I have always found it patently unfair that the burden of financing school budgets falls on the backs of property owners and particularly the elderly homeowners who can barely make ends meet in this atrocious economy.

The fact that any city resident (taxpayer property owners aside) may vote with my money rubs salt into the wound.

There is the argument that renters pay their school taxes indirectly through their landlord/landlady. This is a specious argument at best.

A better way would be a head tax or some other type of tax for every resident over the age of 21 in every county in the state to finance the schools in their own county directly

That is not likely to happen; therefore I challenge all the supporters of new school projects with their good intentions to do the following.

Go to City Hall, they can provide you with a list of property owner taxpayer and where they live. Go door to door and ask everybody but those mentioned proper owner taxpayers to pay their fair share.

In support of their honest efforts I will include two phrases from the liberal entitlement play book of good intentions: “It is for the children”, or my favorite that is good for all occasions, “Everybody needs to pay their fair share”.

Well said howard.

Richard,
Let me get this straight.
People who have lived here all their lives, had homes, raised their families, and paid taxes - but chose, later in life, to downsize to an apartment should be considered less than a citizen and forgo their right to vote on budget matters?
Should those same people have their rent lowered since the portion of that rent allocated for school, city, and county taxes is specious?
Liberal entitlement play book?
Interesting choice of words.

I believe this vote was also about taxes as a whole in this county..City ,School,and county are all to high..We don't vote on a city or county budget..When you add them all up it around $45.00 per thousand assessed value..If the school board really wanted this so bad why didn't they put the property on North St up for sale..How much did all this cost the taxpayer..

I would think that you would be happy at the small cost to the taxpayer for this vote. It got it out in the open, you had your say and you won. What more do you want to extract from this?
North St.? I read in the paper that they are still planning a sports complex there.

Mark,
Why not run for school board?
As a member of the board you could make sure that not one penny of the taxpayers' money is spent on anything but basic education.
You can work with the govenor in helping to eliminate the state mandates that are crippling the school systems.
You can become part of the solution rather than just complaining about how your taxes are spent on items you deem not necessary.

Hey Bob, the grants going to be used no matter what. Dont tell me to enter the real world when i know what Im talking about. The grant was being asked for by several schools, Batavia got it, but with the project not aproved by the people, the money goes back into a grant and schools with then put in to get it. Its going to be used, but because you dont seem to understand that, it will now be used by other people. Now youre stuck paying for somthing that we cant use. I think you need to enter the real world

Fact is none of you people have prolly been in those locker rooms and what not in years. Mr Jacobs boys do a great job with what they can in there but its not plesent. If youre gym had a locker room like that I garentee you wouldnt go back. The BOE should have had a tour of the place before the vote so people could really see the place.

Also, take the time to go look at the feild at BHS some time, walk around, but make sure you bring your mud boots because you will sink. And mud might be fine and good for football, but football doesnt use that feild, Lacrosse Softball and Baseball do. Baseball and Softball are stuck in gyms through out the district for most of the start of the season. Ive seen them have to practice in the gym before a game. And lets look at that, baseballs hitting floors and walls, ruins the wood, not you have to replace those. Lacrosse being the newest sports is lowest on the totem pole. There for they have to practice in parking lots. Cars can get hit, kids can trip and get hurt, school has to pay for that. Not to mention the damage to the heads of their sticks which can cost $70+ easily. They can practice on the back feild, can practice on the back feild because its a swamp. Cant practice on the soccer or football feilds because the sports tears the soft ground up and ruins it.

The turf feild was likly added to the project because some grants will only be givin if the cost of the project is high enough. I know this becuase of talks with Mr Jacobs about other things around the school.

All you people looked at was the cost. The big ol $3.9mil number and thats all anyone focused on. Only looked at what was released about the project by the BOE and what not, who did a horrible jobs presenting it, and didnt go and look at it yourself, did your own research. And now $1.9mil of our taxes are going to another district to do what ever they want

And yeah Howard, I find people who point out grammar to be a little slow with comebacks. They have no good argument of their own so they point it out.

What percentage of students would "benefit" from astro turf? I'd be willing to bet not even half.

Frank,
I am in agreement with the astroturf. I'm not a fan of it for the pros and certainly not for students.
The use of this grant money would be better used to improve the obvious need for better restrooms for the girls and rehab of the ramps to make the stadium safe for the handicapped.
Do we really need to improve the concession stand for the Lions' Club? Is it really necessary to give the coaches their own offices? How bad are the conditions in the press box that it needs to be rennovated?
Unfortunately, in this climate, even asking for approval to do the just the basics would have been voted down.
I understand the frustration level of those who do not want to see their taxes go up. No one likes that.
What I don't understand is why those who are so vocal on this issue aren't getting on the ballot for the next school board elections.

Oh no! The Batavia football team will have to continue to play on regular old grass, just like 99% of other schools in this area. Come on, shouldn't we be saving our tax increases for the truly important things...like teachers and materials? I understand calling the community selfish if they turned down a tax increase that would save teachers and educational programs, but over an astroturf field?...I think they will survive!

Bea:

During that time in their lives those mentioned people were paying the bill directly out their pockets and I applaud them.

Where is the cutoff point on voting on budget matters?

Should those same mentioned citizens who chose to move to Florida and downsize to an apartment be given an absentee ballot to vote?

Are they any less a citizen?

Maybe they have grandchildren who are in sports; they have a vested interest and they paid their dues.

Does their citizenship begin and end at the city limits.

Where is the cutoff point?

Should people who have lived here all their lives and raised families and paid taxes and contributed to society in equal measure be forced to pay confiscatory taxes and possibly lose their homes so that other citizens may exercise their vote?

How many people are going to present the argument that we should allocate money to basic education?
The grant money cannot be used for that.
How many people that voted no have used the term "astroturf"?
Just further proving the lack of knowledge and disconnect on the matter. Astroturf stopped being used in the late 1990's. That playing surface was extremely dangerous and causes substantially more injuries than the current synthetic fields.

This would have effected nearly every sport at Batavia, not just football.
Maybe if this town gave children a place to be proud of, more kids would stick to sports through high school and learn some real values, rather than wasting their lives gaining weight playing video games. I am certainly not a "every child deserves a trophy" person, but this is just ridiculous.

Richard, that is obtuse.
I am talking about people who live in the City of Batavia, the town of Batavia and the Town of Stafford and are elgible to vote for issues regarding the Board of Education.
There is no cut off point for those who owned homes here, but chose to downsize to apartment living within the districts mentioned above. My question, to you, is should there be such a cut off? Are you relegating them to second class citizens because of their choice of life style?
No one said anything about those who are no longer residents of this school district.
"Should people who have lived here all their lives and raised families and paid taxes and contributed to society in equal measure be forced to pay confiscatory taxes and possibly lose their homes so that other citizens may exercise their vote?"
So those other citizens are those who DID live here, owned homes, paid taxes and contributed to society in equal measure and chose to downsize but still live in this school district are now a burden to those they helped along while they were in school and long before they purchased their first homes?

I am fully aware that the money in question is not available towards basic educational needs (that is the fault of the state budget, not the school district). My point is that the future of the NYS education system is looking pretty bleek...Is it wise to raise taxes for unecessary luxuries when it will most likely be necessary to raise taxes in years to come just to maintain teachers and educational programs? I live and pay taxes in Batavia and my kids attend the Batavia schools...I would be 100% in favor of a small tax increase to insure their educational needs are met, not so much for a fancy footbal stadium. I am not sure what kinds of cuts Batavia is looking at, but I am a teacher at another district that is cutting 4 teaching positions in the high school core areas. When the BOE heard that the state may have more money available they decided to bring back modified sports and lower the tax increase rather than keep these teachers that do so much for the community. It may not be long before Batavia is in that situation...how many years in a row can you ask people to raise the taxes? I say save the tax increases for the troubled times that lay ahead.

When I lived in PA school taxes weren't based on your property. They came out of your paycheck based on what school district you lived in, didn't matter what district you worked in. I believe it was around 1% and it was split between the town & the school district. Wish they did the same here.

Jacob,
Fact is the Board overreached. Adding the new parking lot, money for the concession stand and spending on buildings not part of the Van Detta field did not help their cause. The turf was another extra.

Had they just gone with the basics, like they did when they fixed the track, I would have voted yes. But I did not want to pay more money in taxes for something that was "nice to have" as opposed to needed.

Too bad the board didn't split the question into shower/bleacher repairs and everything else.

I think the one thing that some of you need to understand is that the grant funding would have only covered the cost of the turf (which we don't need). The cost of the rest of the renovations was supposed to come from the taxpayers. Do we really have to spend that much money on ramps and showers? No. Any necessary renovations could be made for a lot less money. The other things I take issue with is the City School District's lack of concern on how they spend our money. As I have pointed out before, do we need to heat the entire stadium at 58 degrees all winter long so that the pipes don't freeze? Couldn't they hire a plumber to install a system so that the lines are easily drained and turn the heat off? And, as far as the workout room being used, according to the coaches, during the winter it is only used 1 day per month. So, we are heating it all winter long for what? The other issue I have is why the District transferred money from the General Fund into a fund to pay off bonds. They apparently cannot transfer this money back out and there is over 3 million dollars in that fund. It seems like they are playing the shell game with taxpayers money. If the school district could be a little more responsible with our money maybe we would be more willing to fund some of these things. But, as I have said before, I have a hard time paying $22.16 per thousand for my school taxes when they can't be responsible with my money. Some of that 3 million that they hid away should have been used to make changes without raising our taxes, and taken care of any increase in the upcoming budget.

As far as I am concerned, there should not be any increase in the school tax rate this year. They all ready have an abundance of our money.

Bea,
It's too bad we can not break down this vote. Young/old; renter/owner; income range and the like.

But I would guess from the people I spoke with that more of the older voters voted no. It was younger people who told me they were in favor of this.

Many of the older are retired on a fixed income. SS has not had an increase in two years and may not again this coming year. Gas and food are going up. Where will they get the money?

Man....this is more entertaining than watching Jerry Springer.

I didn't know they were putting down "AstroTurf"
I didn't know the Grant money could be used for teachers. I didn't know just the football team was only gonna be able to play on the new "AstroTurf". I didn't know that youth sports would've used the field. I didn't know that $6.00-$20.00 a yr was a huge tax increase for 15yrs. I do know that sports help a lot of young children and a lot of young children would've been so excited to be involved in anything that happened on the new "AstroTurf" All the reasons most of you have given to vote no are BS!! Yes the project should've been presented better or some of you should've done more homework.

Plz someone correct my grammar......

John,
I voted against the proposition.
What is irritating is the arrogance of those who believe that folks who owned homes, and are now renters, have no say at the polling place.
The class system at work.

Bea:

You wrote in part, “Richard, that is obtuse”, what an interesting choice of words obtuse? I love that word, OBTUSE.

Obtuse, some definitions: a. lacking quickness of perception or intellect, or b. characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity such as an obtuse remark, or c. mentally slow or emotionally insensitive.

It is interesting that you begin your questions to me with the word “So” implying, “you said this therefore this also must be true.”

Your questions are structured in such a way as to diminish my opinions in an open forum to the conclusion that you seek; Ad Hominem Tu Quoque.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I will say no more about the subject.

We will agree to disagree….peace.

Corey, call it what you like,it's a luxury,not a necessity.

Wendy,
That would be a fair way to deal with the school budget.

Bea,
Would you also be for that 1% to come out of SS checks for those who are not working anymore? Right now the theory is that retires still pay school taxes through owned property or rent. A income tax would exempt them.

My comment may not have much value or relativity to this story in particular. Since I'm now away at college, I like to read the Batavian to continue to stay updated on the events that are occurring in Batavia.
Lately, I've been quite disappointed (not that my opinion necessarily matters.) But I have begun to think that this website is becoming far too political and just downright mean. Now, I completely support "freedom of speech" and believe that everyone has a right to their own opinion. But when did having an opinion turn into a game to see who can belittle others and attempt to prove why they believe their thoughts are the correct thoughts?
I grew up within the Batavia City School District, and was involved in my share of sports. I love the school and Batavia in general, and only want what's best.
That being said, I can honestly say that I am not completely informed on this project and all of it's benefits (or downfalls), causing me to have no opinion or say on the matter.
I suppose all of this ranting was my way of finally voicing my sadness. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and have every right to voice it, I believe it could be handled better. We are such a small community, that seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Maybe, if everyone tried worked together and learned to compromise rather than putting down someone who doesn't share the exact same feelings, we could actually push Batavia into a more positive direction. At the very least, a little more respect can be shown from all parties involved.

John,
I guess it is that 1% for everyone, even the seniors (who, it was pointed out by you, have not had a COLA for two years). It would either be that or put the seniors on an ice floe and have them drift away so they aren't the burden to the tax payers that you all think they are.

Bea,
The issue is not seniors. It's how to fairly do the taxing for schools. Property taxes are not really fair, especially with so many properties exempt. An income tax only hits working people.

I'd like to see an end to the property tax to fund schools and fund it with an increase in sales tax. That way at least, almost everyone pays. And while sales taxes can be regressive, it is about the fairest way.

I voted no, I had too many red flags in my mind about the project. I did not feel that asking residents to pay more in taxes during an economy like this was appropriate. I think that a scaled down version of the project, that just included upgrading the locker room/making the stadium more handicapped-accessible would have passed very easily. Instead, Margy Puzio and the board over-reached and proposed a massive project that included amenities like turf, which are nice, but are not needed. I do not blame those who supported the project and I understand their passion, I think that it is a shame that the district effectively ended the chances of anything getting done by doing this.

The status quo has got to go, I think that this vote indicates that this community has had it and that it's time for candidates for school board that will be unconventional in their thinking. I hope to see those kind of candidates running this year.

Also, renters have a stake in taxes. Taxes go up, their rent goes up. The owner of the property needs more money for the property due to a tax increase and is forced to pass it onto the tenant. Simple math.

John i agree about how we fund schools..Sales tax would be a great way to fund the schools..The same thing with the library..Why should the price of your home dictate how much it costs you to use the library ,if you even use it at all..This is what is forcing some retired elderly to have to sell there homes.A house they bought 40 years ago for 20 thousand might be worth 150,000 today and they have to pay taxes at that rate..It not a fair system..How about the landlord who has properties in batavia but lives outside the school district ..They have no say on school taxes..They can't vote unless the reside in the district..There has got to be a better way...

I am not in the Batavia school district and as such I couldn't have voted. Having followed this in the local media, I believe that I would have voted no also. This whole project was presented poorly to the public. I wonder if this could have been presented to the voters as more than just an all or nothing vote. I don't think anyone had a problem with the updating of the locker room's, etc and the handicap updating that should be done.
If they could have presented this more that one proposal..all or nothing...they might have had the good citizens of Batavia vote for the items that were needed to ensure that the stadium was brought up to current standards.

Run for office, Mark.
Since you don't use the library, you can campaign for closing it so no one can.
I'll sign your petition if you decide to become part of the solution.

Bea,
Mark has a point. Why should property taxes be used? What do you think of a sales tax to fund schools instead of property taxes (of course, it would have to be statewide)?

Dan,
Some renters are in government subsidized, tax exempt housing, so they don't have as much at stake when property taxes go up. Good for them, but the rest of us have to pick up their share.

The sales tax idea is a good one too. It is a fair way for everyone to contribute.
Mark, as a member of the Board, could work toward making it happen.
John could manage your campaign, if he isn't already.

How can anyone say a parking lot isnt nessary?! You people obviously have never been to a sporting event there in years and years, or even driven down that street during one. People have to park in Notre Dame, and what if they have somthing going on? Its even worse. What if its snowing? You want your grandmother parking half way down Vernon to see your son play? Yeah. The lack of imformed people here is laughable. Spouting astro turf, and use the grant money for education. I blame the BOE for not better informing people of this thing. They shouldnt have spouted the price till they did a better job of saying what was going to be done and why it was needed.

But hey, thanks to you, now ours tax money is going to another district.

Bea,
I am already helping somebody. You'll have to step up and help Mark.

Jacob,
There has been no parking lot for decades. Sure it would be nice. And it would make life better for the people on Vernon and other streets like Union. But you have to learn the difference between necessary and nice to have.

Also, people on Vernon and other streets were not all in favor of this, you know that right?

I thought that lottery and VLT tax revenue were intended to fund education. I don't know what the percentages are, but maybe it's time to revisit them. How much of that tax revenue actually ends up in local school districts?

Also, maybe the jackpots can be smaller so a larger portion can fund education. Anyone that wins big in the lottery already expects a significant portion of it to be taxed to the State anyway. Winning 100M would be nice, but I'd be happy with 10M and a fully funded educational system, reserve funds for capital improvements and a stable tax rate.

I bet the person sleeping in the car on the side of the road at the all night charity event would think the parking would be more than nice to have. That whole area could have been made much safer with more parking. Hope all the no voters remember that. When the next person gets mowed down crossing the roads in the area.
This past season a man in a wheelchair was up in front of the frist seats with his family to watch his grandson play football. There was only enough room for one person to get by him at a time. After food and drinks were spilled on him and several kids bumping into him. He had to move to a area he could no longer see the game. Nice things to have?

I just read that the Library wants to add a new position..
Give out 2% raises to the allready 14 full time and 6 part time staff they have...They claim they need to teach children how to read..What are the schools for....I hope this budget gets voted down also...It only a few more dollars per year per taxpayer,but the point is when does it all stop..Why hire more help when you allready have enough..

I can not support the hiring of another person. And like Mark, I do not think it is the function of a library to act like a school. Teaching is not their function.Sorry, but that is why I pay school taxes.

And it is a bit hard to justify a pay raise right now.