Can you sell my oceanfront property in Arizona along with that bridge?

Vote No! There is no revenue problem. There are a host of cost issues. And unless the county "leadership" suggests that efficiencies and savings are readily available if we reduced the # of superintendents and districts within the county - they aren't even trying to pick the low hanging fruit. Self preservation is more like it.

I support it. I am not a fan of sales taxes, but that is what some group decided was the most feasible option to get the funds. There is so much infrastructure in District 150 that needs upgrading and repairs. These are big dollar type repairs, HVAC systems, roofs and parking lots. Eliminating all the superintendent salaries would not even approach the amount of money needed to make some of these repairs. Think about what's happened to the Peoria Stadium, because there wasn't enough money to fix it, so maintenance items get deferred over and over again until the capital isn't even work fixing any more. The money from the state is no longer reliable and communities need to start looking at more local sources to maintain the infrastructure that they already have before it becomes a complete s*h*thole, if it hasn't already.

@cjsummers :Property taxes won't be reduced, but IF this sales tax passes, future property tax increases will be reduced. ;-)

@joepyeweed No money to fix Peoria Stadium isn't a hill I'd plant that flag on. There was plenty of money to create an entirely new athletic complex at Central, even though the Woodruff complex was perfectly fine. There hasn't been a problem getting money to build grand new schools either.There hasn't been a problem sending the board and high level staff on lavish trips of questionable value to taxpayers. How about using that surplus museum tax money and give that to the school districts?

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I want you to go sit in a classroom, with 30 other people for an hour that doesn't have proper ventilation and take a test. How does that work for our students?

@joepyeweed You're falling for the trap of this tax. These issues aren't being fixed because of priorities, not lack of funding. There is plenty of revenue to fix basic issues. Instead they are prioritizing lavish new buildings and many, many administration positions.

@jimthompson :Those are different buckets of money. The money to build new schools comes from a dedicated capital funding source that is state, and sometimes federally subsidized, with local match. There is a specific process that a district goes through to get those funds. They are capital improvements that are easy to bond.Expense dollars - maintenance dollars come from a different pool of money - partially health and life safety funds, depending upon the improvement. The state is going to hell in handbasket. The local governments are going to have to develop a way to fund more of their own maintenance needs.

When I see 6 different buses from the same school district go pass my dead-end neighborhood, there's not a need for more funding, there's a need for proper planning.4 of the buses I can account for, the other 2 I never see attempt to stop to pick up or drop off. And like I said, it's a dead-end neighborhood, it's not like they are cutting through. They end up right back on the same street the cam off of.

@jimthompson :That is partially true, priorities are set because funding is limited. They never have enough funding to maintain everything they have - so they set priorities and then defer that which they cannot afford or that which isn't considered a threat to life-health or safety. But eventually all that deferred stuff grows into a huge monster that no one can tackle.(Same thing is happening in the private sector btw... just ask Caterpillar, deferring maintained to reduce expenses eventually haunts the infrastructure...)

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@cjsummers :If it were only one classroom, it would not be an issue. How many classrooms don't have proper ventilation? do you know? What does the school district think it will cost to fix that ? Do you know?

@cjsummers :Yes, they have been deferring maintenance for a long time now and local units of government are realizing they aren't going to get the money that is needed from the state or federal government anymore. The pressure to reduce taxes at the state and federal level puts more pressure on local units of government to come up with other funding sources. There has been a huge societal trend in both the public and private sectors for several decades to cut expenses, do more with less budget. That is not sustainable over a long period of time in a world made out bricks, concrete, metal, filters, pipes, valves, pumps and air handlers.