Say ‘no’ to district smoke and mirrors

Cave Creek Unified School District is again playing the smoke and mirrors game with district voters.

Did CCUSD tell district voters they plan to buy more than 5,200 laptop computers, using funds from the unnecessary $32 million capital override? At the end of the last school year, 5,800 students were enrolled in CCUSD, including preschool and kindergarten. Override funds will also be used to construct a massive network to serve these thousands of laptops; yet textbooks and classroom furniture were about 10 percent of the $32 million capital override.

Did CCUSD tell district voters that about $30 million of the proposed $123 million bond issue will be spent on more smoke and mirrors, including such intangible items as contingencies, adjustments, designs, permits, etc.? Is this $30 million in intangibles merely a safety net to protect estimates by district personnel for building renovations?

Did CCUSD tell district voters they would like to issue bonds with 17‑ to 20‑year amortization periods and would use the funds on building renovations with useful lives of 10 years or less? These include exterior/interior painting, resurfacing parking lots, replacing carpeting, etc. Did the district forget to mention that CCUSD is eligible for building renovation funds from the state school facilities board?

Incidentally, the county treasurer says that the average value of a residence within CCUSD is $599,380. Thus, the actual CCUSD secondary property tax is estimated to be $390, rather than the $190 figure apparently cited in the information pamphlet.

Had enough of CCUSD’s smoke and mirrors? Vote “no” on the district’s unnecessary $32 million capital override. Vote “no” on CCUSD’s unnecessary $132 million bonds.

Marti Marino
Take Back Control of Our Schools