|
|||
|
This article by Bill Bodden of Redmond was publish in The (Bend) Bulletin in July 2004 Over the past couple of years we have witnessed severe problems passing bonds for new schools in Redmond and operating them in Bend. Voters rejected these bonds for varied reasons. Among the more significant were decisions by people that there were limits to how much they were prepared or could afford to be taxed to meet the needs claimed by school boards. There is a lesson to be learned from this history but, apparently, one that is beyond the concern or comprehension of Redmond’s city council and officials. Our system of funding for schools is deeply flawed, unfair, and onerous to established residents. Despite this, the city of Redmond is fixated on an annexation that will double its geographic area and bring out the worst of growth problems. This is a formula to recreate in quick order the crisis that Redmond’s school bonds were supposed to relieve. The system in essence means that developers build acres of houses that are sold to families moving into the area. Many of these families have children that are added to the schools’ rolls. Because this population inexorably exceeds capacity, we continually need to build more schools. To pay for these schools we ask people that have already paid for existing schools to pay for more even though they have not contributed to this need. The people causing the problem pay only a minuscule portion of the costs they create. City officials hired consultants to evaluate financial aspects of annexation and received, not surprisingly, the answers they wanted. They were assured that a net profit would appear on city hall’s balance sheets, but among several major consequences they failed to consider (See "Redmond Annexation" at www.fodeco.org) will be the demand for new schools and the problems of paying for them. The latest guess out of city hall suggests that over the next 21 years the population of Redmond will increase by 28,000, averaging 1,333 people each year. If 32 per cent of these new residents will be school-age children, in line with current ratio for the Redmond school district, the school population will increase by 423 students annually. That translates to the equivalent of a new elementary school every 15 months or a new high school every 44 months. The last school bond, which left $18 million of needs on the shelf, indicated a cost of around $26,000 per student for a new school. To keep the math simple and to make a conservative estimate, let’s assume we will only add 600 new students every 18 months and we can reduce construction costs to $20,000 per student. That still comes to $12 million or the equivalent of another $36-million school bond every three years so that we will be adding (or rejecting) new bonds before outstanding bonds are paid off. The people that fought for the last two years to relieve the pressures on their children because of overcrowding in Redmond schools will be burdened with the same predicament in the not-too-distant future. Since Redmond’s city council and officials didn’t think of this and other problems with their planned annexation, it will be up to the voters in November to reject their plans until the flaws in the system are eliminated. Collection of system development charges (SDCs) for schools on all new homes is an essential element for fair growth policies. Redmond voters need to send a clear signal that we cannot continue to conduct business as usual and that the laws prohibiting collecting SDCs for schools must be changed. Legislators receiving campaign funds from the building industry will not make these changes without a clear statement from the electorate. Parents and others concerned with good schools for the children of Redmond can send the required message by rejecting this annexation in November until a more reliable and fairer system of funding for schools is implemented. Before those of us opposed to this annexation are written off as being anti-growth, I would point out that some of us are in favor of sufficient growth so that Central Oregon can support a medical community that will preclude the need for people to travel to Portland for specialist care. We would also like to see a four-year university system on this side of the Cascades. But we are also concerned with how this area grows, that growth will be judicious, sustainable, and be paid for in a fair way. Back to Education Home Page Back to Schools Home Page |
.
|
||