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While the proposed plant levy last year was, admittedly, ambitious—and to some avaricious—the supplemental levy (and this is something many people simply don’t understand) is routine upkeep, supplemental funding necessary to keep our schools open and, in doing so, maintain reasonable class sizes throughout the district. The financial impact incurred by each individual is, in comparison to the plant levy, nominal, particularly when juxtaposed to the detrimental effects its failure stands to have on students — the reason we have schools in the first place, lest anyone forgot.

No one wants his or her taxes to increase, not without a good reason. I think, however, that if we’re honest with ourselves, our collective disdain of taxes — myself included — is rooted in a well-reasoned skepticism of government, particularly federal, and the perceived misappropriation of tax dollars. Rest assured, the supplemental levy is an exclusively local concern, one whose passage will uphold the standard of education for which our distinct is lauded statewide. This, unlike the rallying-cry of old, is taxation with representation, and comes at a conservative increase of $4 per year for every $100,000 in net taxable property value. We want citizens who grasp the aforementioned historical allusion, and passing a routine supplemental levy, something we do every couple years, ensures schools stay open, class sizes stay small and learning conditions remain optimal.

BRET JOHNSON

Sagle