A $65 million bond issue slam dunk... or will it be back to the drawing board for the Weber School District?
There's one more ballot issue we'd like to address this morning, as we stand on the cusp of tomorrow's Utah Primary Election. An examination of tomorrow's Weber County primary ballot reveals that there's an important public bonding issue which has somehow wriggled onto the ballot, i.e., Weber School District’s $65 million bonding proposal, which would allow the district to build five new schools and update two existing ones. The Standard-Examiner story provides the gist:
Note: The above-mentioned bond proposal will appear on only the Weber County ballots of those voters who reside in the Weber School District, of course.
In a circumstance where this new bonding is being "framed" by proponents as a measure which will not raise taxes, it would seem that Weber School District officials have their ducks lined up with tight-fisted Weber County voters who might otherwise drive a stake through the heart of any bonding proposal which would create $65 million in new public debt. While it's likely, therefore, that this bonding measure will have smooth sailing in tomorrow's balloting, there is at least one fly in the ointment, as set forth in yesterday's Standard-Examiner guest commentary by M. Royce Van Tassell, Vice President of the fiscally conservative and highly-influential Utah Taxpayers Association:
So what about it, O gentle Ones? Is this $65 million Weber County School District bonding proposal essentially a slam dunk? Or will the procedural irregularities and outright trickery which Mr. Van Tassel illuminates convince cash-strapped Weber County taxpayers to reject this measure and force the the school district to reprise this bonding measure "at a later date?"
And what's your individual take on this proposal? Will you be voting for or against it?
Are there any other issues which we've missed?
How about a little reader discussion on this?
