Three Reasons to Vote “Yes” 3 Times on June 11

Three Reasons to Vote “Yes” 3 Times on June 11

When our family made the decision to leave the city, we looked for over two years in six different areas before deciding to buy in Rye. Our number one consideration was quality schools. When we moved our kids were in preschool, so there was an extended period of time before we set foot in our local elementary school, Midland. When we entered Midland for the first time we were startled at the terrible condition of the facilities, especially the lack of security. We supported the March bond vote because it provided what we thought was a long-overdue project that would result in adequate facilities, not world-class, just reasonably acceptable.

When the bond failed to pass it was extremely disappointing, primarily because the outcome did not seem to reflect the true will of the Rye community as a whole. In particular, there seemed to be a general lack of accurate information and also many misconceptions about the proposed plan. I have spent the last two months studying the School Board’s bond proposal and have attempted to look at it from the various perspectives of Rye residents. I believe there are three different reasons why people should vote <<“Yes”three times>> for the school bond on June 11.

Vote “Yes” for your <<Wallet>>. Your taxes will barely go up — the annual increase on a $1.5 million home is $169. That’s less than the tax impact of the overwhelmingly-supported budget vote in May. We’re making an $80 million infrastructure investment, which is supporting $9 billion of real estate value. That is an incredibly small investment supporting our home values; it would be extremely short-sighted to arbitrarily cut this investment in half.

Vote “Yes” with your <<Head>>. Buildings cost money, especially in Westchester County. To replace Midland alone would cost $50-70 million. We’re not getting shiny new schools, we’re getting renovated old ones — the School Board’s plan is a reasonable, cost-friendly approach.

Vote “Yes” with your <<Heart>>. The bond is a long-term investment in the future of children, your children and grandchildren, as well as those of your neighbors and future neighbors (the people who will someday buy your home).

Please join me in voting “Yes” 3 Times on June 11.

— Tim Schott

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