OCR Text |
Show Cyclops By BRYAN GRAY i 3 ' ..." Tax limitation bunch should stop barking and offer solutions Every so often a reader gently takes me aside and encourages me to join the tax limitation movement. At times, they are persuasive. "You don't enjoy paying taxes," they say. "Of course not," I answer. "Paying taxes is as enjoyable as scraping the ice off my car window." "And you know that government agencies sometimes squander money." "Some do," I acknowledged. "Government officials usually believe in . free speech-especially long-distance calls on government-owned government-owned telephones. ; "And you know that some '. government officials don't work very hard." "That's true," I admit "I've - known some government bureaucrats bu-reaucrats who get winded playing chess." v "Then you should join the tax limitation movemenC"sajr" the" readers, "If we say no to taxes, the government will be forced to stop spending our money." 1 b As I say, sometimes the tax limi- "tation folks' can make a reasonable ' case. But each time I begin thinking -rationally about their cause, I read , something in the newspaper which knocks me back to reality. It happened again last week when the Davis County School Board began voicing support for a bond election, . with the bulk of the money earmarked ear-marked for a new high school. The school district : makes a strong case. In the northern end of the county, the high schools and junior ju-nior high schools are bursting through the bricks. Teachers are trying try-ing to oversee more than 180 students per day, and the crowded school hallways resemble a Brazilian soccer crowd. An expensive expen-sive busing program could transfer some of the students to the southern part of the county, but Viewmont High is rapidly filling to capacity by itself, and Woods Cross High will soon be seeing a sudden influx of its own students: Portable trailers could alleviate some of the classroom shortage, but manufacturers manufac-turers have yet to create a trailer which can double as a cafeteria, a gymnasium and an auto shop. r t As a partial solution, the Utah Taxpayers Association says the school district should let the students choose their own school. " But most students will choose to " stay exactly where they are-in some cases sitting on a window ledge since the classroom can't ac- commodate more chairs! j. '..ft :it", ".'f'j. i.- -' "" ,-':'t'. :' ;',' : . And now the bad news...Thc problem is going to become worse. Currently the high school age population (ages 15-19) comprise less than eight percent of the total population in the northern end of .. Davis County. ..... -.'" ; But future high schoolers (ages 5-9) comprise a larger 1 1 percent of the population-and the younger children make up an even larger - percentage. Then add population t ; growth on top of the coming . hordes. In only five years, the , population of Layton is expected to f grow by another 8,600 people, with 4,000 more in Farmington, 2,900 in Kaysville-Fruit Heights and 3,900' iij, Clearfield-Clinton. ..i The children are already in the pipeline...And the tax limitation ' movement cannot wish them away. But facts mean little to the tax limitation bunch. When he heard about the possibility of a bond election elec-tion to finance a new school, Dee Tingey, chairman of the- Davis County Tax Limitation Coalition, told a newspaper reporter, "I don't think it would do the school district any good to explain a thing. It's -ridiculous : to - even talk - about -" building a new school...We can't afford to pay even one penny more !" in taxes. Do you think people arc ' : going topayforeverything?" . No, Mr. Tingey, I don'L I don't expect to pay for someone else's car, barbecue grill or ; aluminum ' siding.; Neither dp I expect to pay ' for my neighbor's wedding shower. , But as a society, we must pay for educating students. ; ' ' The bond election has nothing to , do with teacher salaries. The ques-tion ques-tion deals merely with buildings, ( and, unlike the Utah Jazz, teachers : do not perform well if their classroom becomes a screaming arena. Mr. Tingey's beef that taxpayers . are already paying enough doesn't ;; solve the problem. If the tax limi- -tation coalition is sincere in its desire' to help the community, it : must stop barking and begin con-" tributing reasonable solutions. And , don't start nipping at the schdbl V administration costs. With today's I building costs, one could fire 25 percent of the school administra- ? torsand -come up with barely-enough barely-enough money to build one , classroom and a girls' bathroom. 1 j It's easy, as Mr. Tingey says, to j just say no...But it's awfully hard to ! -say no to a child when he asks if he t , can go to school. Maybe the tax 1 limitation crowd should be ap- : ' pointed to talk to the kid and break ' , the bad news. , ' . ;..v;si..; ri: :-1'"::" "'.:.v t$ -) A .e ..i.iy.s.wir;':-, -W"-'-'.- : : . . |