Rye Citizens Have No Choice but to Vote “No” on School Bond
The proposed $80,000,000 school bond is a flawed plan. The School District has some urgent needs, some important needs, and some wish list items. But a flawed plan is no solution.
- $80,000,000 is too big. It is by five times the largest bond ever issued in Rye, five times larger than the largest project the School District has ever managed. The administration does not have the proven management capacity to handle anything near this size. The taxpayers’ debt service capacity will be severely tested by a bond this size, plus the other smaller borrowings forthcoming from the City and the County.
- $12,000,000 of State reimbursements provided to help pay capital expenditures will not be used to offset the cost to the taxpayer but diverted to the general funds of the District. Long-term borrowing is to be used to meet short-term needs. A second mortgage on your house to pay for groceries?
- Thirty-year bonds are designed to finance new buildings, not to finance improvements with shorter life expectancy. Future School Boards and administrations facing the new issues of their time will have no flexibility but be still paying for outdated improvements.
Unfortunately, we citizens have been left with no alternative for discussion. Our only alternative is to vote “No” on March 12th.
