Op-ed: Cost of school’s proposed PPEL tax levy

by Jack McCourt of Mason City –

$19,500

If you live in Mason City and you have a home that is worth for tax purposes, the above amount, it cost the owner $337.00 per year.

1. To increaase PPEL $1.34 per $1,000 is $26.13 more a year.
2. On the instructional support levy, if I’m not wrong, I think I heard the talk of $1.60 per $1,000 which is $31.20 per year more.
3. That is $57.33 more per year.
4. I went to the bank and asked if I put $1,000 into a savings account, what would I get paid in  interest?  For one year it was 10 cents.
5. The teachers got an increase of $970.oo per year on their base salary.  The others got 3%.
6. Teacher’s pay is a total cost to the district of $843,577.00 and the other employees get $87,756.00 which equals a total of $931,333.00.
7. So one year without any raises you would have close to 1,000,000.00 for that new roof.
8. None of your group will quit their job to go to another town.
9. Have your personnel ever gone one year without a raise?
10. If the folks that send these kids to your schools on what it costs the district for them to eat, should tell you they are having a hard time getting by.  I’m talking about their cheap meals.