Vote 'NO' on Post Falls levy

I have written this article in response to the Post Falls School District's upcoming levy which will be held on March 8. I encourage all voters to vote "NO" and I will tell you why.

Last August I wrote an article related to the KTEC levy. In the article, I addressed our serious unemployment situation. I stated, "In July, Idaho's unemployment rate was slightly higher than 8.8 percent. While some believe we have hit a low point, I am not so sure." Now, if we look at the U.S. Bureau of Statistics for December 2010, Idaho's unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. For Post Falls, the rate was 10.7 percent and Coeur d'Alene was 10.6 percent. I believe my predictions were correct. Now, I believe the high employment levels will remain with us through the next election cycle in 2012.

I also addressed the state of the economy as follows: "There is wide speculation that the economy will get slightly worse before it gets better." While I can go on and on about the commodity markets, where the price of wheat has tripled over the last year, coffee beans have risen over 100 percent, corn has risen over 80 percent, rice is over 50 percent, cotton is at its highest point since the Civil War, not to mention the price of gasoline which is at a two decade high for the month of February.

Food prices are on the rise as most household shoppers have noticed by now. Major food makers and some restaurants have already said they'll be raising prices. No matter whether you're visiting McDonald's, Starbucks or your local grocery store the increases will hit your food budget. For those who are young, newly married, young families, low income families, or elderly, any sharp, steep and increasing prices can be devastating. How many will have to miss a meal or more because of fiscal impact?

Those who are on disability payments, Social Security, federal retirement benefits, and veteran payment have not seen any increases for the past two years. In addition, those who receive pensions have recently had their federal income tax withholding increase because the end of year tax agreement between the federal legislature and the president did not cover retirees or those on pension.

As for housing, I am not sure we have hit a low just yet. There are many homes on the market which are bank owned. It is widely believed that more are waiting to be taken over and in fact, one housing area I have been watching had two units with notices on them within a small townhouse division.

Let's take a look at the levy issue brought forth by the district. According to the district, they state, "The district will see a reduction of $880,000 in federal funding going into the next budget cycle. "The lost money was linked to stimulus funds in which the district changed which pot of money certain teachers were paid from. I believe with anything involving the federal funds, there is always a risk that those funds will be discontinued and the district knew how long the funds would be available. It would be like the federal government giving you a tax credit for new windows; however, you know you will not get the credit forever. What the district is not telling you is they have in excess of $450,000 in reserves from the 2010 Federal Jobs bill which will cover half of that shortfall. So in the next levy request will the district then want the taxpayers to fund the missing Federal Job funds which go away next year as well as continuing the missing stimulus funds?

The bigger question which is not being answered is the emergency levy. When discussion regarding the levy was brought forward, there was discussion of keeping the current levy amount or increasing it. When the discussion centered on the upward version, the emergency levy was to be included in this amount, however, I believe the district has failed the voter regarding this issue so they can come back for the additional $414,000. Recently, one of the board members used the term to lower the emergency levy, thus now I am not truly sure the board has been honest with us.

This is what they did when they told us the voters there would be no tax increase when they were seeking approval for KTEC in August. Only after the vote and the beginning of school, did they come back with an emergency levy when they previously said they did not see any need for one. The emergency levy was to pay for an increased number of students that is expected every year!

The district gave the teachers and other staff the five furlough days back. However, many others including state and private workers have been required to take days off or have had their hours cut and wages frozen or cut. The board has been insulating those in education from similar impacts. I have not seen any indication of either teacher or support staff losing days because of budget issues. In fact, ground maintenance workers were trimming bushes over the Christmas holidays when those days could have been saved or used to pay for increase time for snow removal.

Two years ago many Americans became angry with government and Wall Street bailouts, which may have led to the beginning of the Tea Party. The injustice of people, companies and others being rewarded for failure and being supported by the public purse has become the issue. Today, education is the same way and I believe people want change.

Don't let those using fear tactics have you believe teachers will lose their jobs. These teachers were already employed before receiving both stimulus and jobs funding. If the levy fails, the voters have another opportunity for a more balanced levy presented later this year. In fact, I believe the voters should wait until the school board elections are conducted in May.

Finally, I received a study from one of our local board members showing the main concerns for Idaho residents are the economy, jobs and wages by a wide margin. I believe once we have a stronger economy and the jobless rate comes down, all the other problems will fall into place.

Gary Nystrom is a Post Falls School District patron.