GOP Group Calls DSUSD Tax Bond ‘Scam’

‘Stop Desert Sands Unified $675 Million Tax Bond’

PALM DESERT — East Valley Republican Women Patriots, an influential political group, opposes the $675 million school tax bond Desert Sands Unified School District is pushing to place on the March 5 ballot.

That equates to an additional $60 per $100,000 of assessed value of our homes, according to the group’s outspoken president Joy Miedecke. This is in addition to the school taxes we have been paying for the past several years.

“The school board is tax happy,” Miedecke told Uken Report. “We’ve had enough of higher taxes. We won’t survive, and the schools will be empty because people will have to leave our state because they cannot afford to live here. But it doesn’t matter to the politicians, they just want to gouge us out of our homes.”

In 2001, DSUSD Measure K passed for $450 million and in 2014 DSUSD Measure KK passed for another $225 million, the group argues.

Additionally, California Proposition 98 passed in 1988 mandated 40% of California’s annual income for K-14 schools. This currently is about $128 billion per year for our 941 School districts, the group states in its latest newsletter.

Furthermore, the real cost of this $675 million tax burden by Desert Sands will be well over $1 billion.

“We must pay millions more in interest to wealthy investors that purchase these bonds,” the newsletter states.

In 2000, Proposition 39 passed to lower the bond passage threshold from 2/3 to 55% of the vote. Since then, nearly all California school bonds have easily passed via uninformed and naïve voters.

Do we not pay enough for failing public education? Have we not learned that throwing millions of dollars at schools does NOT improve student performance?

Don’t be fooled! Say NO to this outrageous tax scam!

Public schools should concentrate on teaching reading, writing, math, science and factual American history, the group argues.

This can be done successfully without fleecing the taxpayer over and over, the GOP group states.

According to DSUSD’s website, the potential bond measure could support identified priority needs in our district, including to:

• upgrade classrooms and science labs to keep pace with technology and support student achievement in math, science, engineering, arts, and skilled trades.
• upgrade inadequate cooling, shade structures, heating, and electrical systems.
• remove asbestos and lead pipes where found and fix deteriorating roofs.
• improve student safety and campus security systems, including security lighting, cameras, emergency communication systems, smoke detectors, fire alarms, and sprinklers.
• provide physical education facilities, modern labs, and career technical education opportunities so students are better prepared for college and in-demand careers.