CyFair Citizen Don

Exactly my point.

I think things were evened out when CyFair got to host the swearing in ceremony for new US citizens a couple of months ago in the Berry Center.

[quote name='FilioScotia' date='Wednesday, July 4th, 2007 @ 11:15am' post='182459' You can't deny the need for more school facilities, and I know CFISD is building new schools as fast it can. My complaint is the way the board uses the millions it's spending. CyFair did need at least one more football stadium, but for god's sakes did it have to be an 81 million dollar monstrosity like the Berry Center? Doesn't someone on that board have any common sense? Here's a chance to fix that: I believe that there are two board positions that can be voted on in November. Hopefully more people will vote since elections are being held in November. Last board elections were held in May last year, and I think only 400+ people voted.

* It's also a graduation center, to save CFISD $130,000 in rental expenses and the parent $6 to park (although I believe it costs more than $130,000 to operate on a yearly basis) * It's a stadium where a professional football team plays (though not very well) * It's a concert hall where you can see top name bands perform (competes with other venues such as Toyota Center) * It's a place where all the teachers can meet once or twice a year for a Dr. Anthony pep rally * It's a $31 million high school football team with fancy press boxes and VIP rooms. This alone makes it an expensive football stadium. It's multi-purpose like we were promised, but I'm not sure if it's really "for the kids" or not. If the idea is to have some type of facility that the community can use, then I don't think it should have been built by the school district. This should have been built by private enterprise and the school district needs to get out of the business of generating revenue so they can focus on education. I would agree that we need additional schools. If inflation is a factor in causing high schools to cost almost $100 million, then maybe it's time to look at other ways to reduce the cost. It's not like the district is accumulating equity in current buildings that they can turn around and leverage in future ones (like a home owner would do) Every time we build a new school with a new feature (practice swimming pool, music hall) then we are put into the position of having to retrofit existing schools to make them comparable.

Those are probably valid points and we should be holding ALL taxing entities accountable, but my point is that the school districts (in this case, CyFair with their $807 million dollar bond proposal) should understand that their funding comes from the same source - the tax payer. Any argument that bonds don't pay for teacher salaries and operational expenses is ignoring the fact that the tax payer is paying for them both.

The point that I was trying to make was it doesn't matter whether the taxes are for operations (M&O) or capital projects (I&S), they are both funded by the tax payer. The tax payer writes one check at the end of the year to the school district. And the school district is competing with other entities that need to operate and build things. The county needs to build roads so that we can get to those schools, the MUD district needs to upgrade its infrastructure so that we have clean drinking water, and the hospital district needs new equipment to save lives.

I think both sources that you speak of are commonly referred to as "the tax payer" When elections were held in May and December, that was probably true since only 4500 people voted. Now that we are having a bond election in November, chances are that more people who are not affiliated with the school district or who are doing business with the school district will be voting.

msteacher, The state reduces funding based on a formula of how much local taxes the school district takes in. More local taxes results in less state funding. As you are probably aware, CFISD increased its 2007-08 budget 13% over the 2006-07 budget; that is 7% more than the student population growth + inflation rate. I also would like to point out that though different funds are used to pay for operational costs and construction, those funds come from the same source.

4500 voters out of 200,000 registered voters is not a mandate - it's either a lack of interest or lack of information. I think more people are starting to take interest and there is more information out than there has been in the past. The turnout that was present at the tax rate meeting is a sign of things to come. And I don't think it's fair to say that the average person in CyFair wants great education and not have to pay for it. How about great education and facilities at a reasonable cost? Did we need a "multi-purpose facility and football stadium?" Perhaps, but I don't think we needed one on such a grand scale. The multi-purpose building is not educating anyone, and I don't see how much more football spirit you can gain by spending 30 million instead of 10 million, unless you are a fan of the Katy Texas Copperheads. Don Co-Founder "CyFair Citizens"