001I call to order this meeting of the Kua County Board of Education agenda 8:30 public hearing on intent to OPD out of homestead exemption 6: PM February the 4th 2025 please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence FL United States America and to the rep for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you you may be seated do I have a motion to approve the agenda so moved second any discussion all those in favor motion passes 7 to zero DR Horton your presentation please thank you Mr chairman good evening board members members of the public uh like to thank everyone for being here tonight for our third uh public hearing on House Bill 581 Mike if you'll start to proceed um briefly uh the
002decision timeline board members please forgive me I know you've seen this several times already um you have to have there's a state required process number one uh we are at our our third uh public hearing you can see there February 4th have an additional uh public hearing uh at 12:00 uh next week on February the 11th uh and then we consider um a resolution potentially to opt out uh of the um Statewide exemption uh next week next Tuesday night board members will remind you once again no decision tonight it's just a public hearing to be able to listen to uh the public uh related to um House Bill 5 81 Mike if you go to the next one for me um this this process this decision process is scripted uh it is provided for by
003the legislation uh you can see there all the way to the ad language that's used where it states that you intend to opt out that language is required um it was written I guess by a legislative attorney somewhere uh but that is the required language um ads have to be 30 square in we've run all of our required ads uh leading up to each of our hearings uh and have adhered uh to this entire process Mike if you go to the next one just a summary um was approved November the 5th by the voters as a Statewide uh floating homestead exemption uh bit of a change since the since the referendum was passed back in November uh that this has now been designated as a local homestead exemption and I'll get into more of what
004that means later but the long story short is that means that the state gets its money uh before any exemptions or applied you can see the actual ballot language there it's verbatim from the ballot shall the constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize the general assembly to provide by a general law for a Statewide homestead exemption that serves to limit increases in the assess value of homesteads but which any County Consolidated Government municipality or local school system May opt out of upon the completion of certain procedures verbatim ballot language voted on by the voters that allows for the very process that we find ourselves in now go to the next one right some other Provisions it authorizes a special sales and use tax uh aimed at providing property tax relief local school systems
005are not allowed to participate uh in that special sales and use tax uh it does revise the appeal process and requires an audit or an economic analysis uh every couple of years Mike go the next one of course I've already mentioned November the 5th um none of this could start uh before January the 1st of 2025 all of this prescribed uh within the law uh and then there's a March dead March 1st deadline um for a school district or a municipality to opt to choose to opt out and to file uh with the Secretary of State's office as you can see board members this process uh is incredibly detailed um it's incredibly nuanced uh and and we have it adhered to it up to this point to a t Mike if you'll go the next
006one already said couldn't start before January 1st uh resolution by March the 1st have to hold at least three public hearings board members we having four uh in the interest to make sure that all voices can be heard uh so we'll have our fourth one uh next week and then I've already mentioned the public notice that had to be uh in the local orgon there which is the Times Herald next one as I mentioned earlier you can see this process uh it's very nuanced very detailed uh it's not an easy process um this is a map that I received late last week from the Georgia school superintendent Association uh of school districts in the state green are those that are considering opting out so they're all going through this process uh red are opting in
007and the Grays are still undecided or Undeclared um so there's quite a few school districts in the state that that even with a process that is scripted uh there's very difficult and challenging uh they considering uh the opt out go the next one Mike some differences I think uh that that we need to talk about when you look at that number of school districts that are considering opting out there are some differences between school systems uh in cities and counties school systems cannot Levy more than 20 Mills in property tax uh there is no rate cap for other local entities uh school systems are the only one that has that rule applied to them I already mentioned earlier school system systems cannot request an additional local option sales tax under this legislation that is an
008option uh that is available to uh cities and counties here they can request a local option sales tax in addition school systems are capped uh in the amount that they can have in reserve under state law uh it's capped at 15% under the law of the state of Georgia for school systems uh cities and Counties have no such cap they can have an unlimited amount uh in reserve and the final difference between between cities and counties is that and and school systems is that school systems have to pay a 5 m local fair share uh the equivalent of 5 Mills to participate in state funding uh municipalities and counties and cities uh do not have uh such a requirement uh to pay five Mills uh to the state of Georgia go to the next one
009Mike opting out could potentially mean uh more maintaining local control over tax policy if you opt in uh the state would then once you hit that 20 mil cap the state would control uh local tax policy related education uh once you hit the 20 mil cap uh flexibility for future boards and superintendents would be diminished uh the one tool that you do have and you've exercised it over the years um to to be able to finance school system operations is the millage rate uh and it's at the lowest rate in 43 years and I'll show uh that here in just a few minutes um you have the ability to try to maintain that also if you opt out that does acknowledge the unique needs of CWI County uniqueness of CWI County um a a state
010solution uh provides for the whole state it doesn't provide for what uh may be needed here um also opting out U would would allow you to continue to respond to local needs and crises uh as as you see fit and have the flexibility to do so uh you still have the ability to respond to Rising property values uh through U other Homestead exemptions through lowering the millage rate uh you would maintain the ability uh to to continue to do those things uh as you saw fit um if if you were to opt out Mike go the next one look at opting in uh there is there is potential that eventually uh if revenues decrease the millage rate would need to go up to offset those um give you an example board members just last year
011uh there was a decision ision made at the state level related to employee Insurance um for for us last year $5.6 million uh was the initial increase uh in in Insurance costs for us uh that was not a decision that was made locally it was a decision made at the state level there's a state salary increase last year that was passed on 5.7 million increase in teacher retirement system contribution for the school system was 1.2 and then step increases welld deserved step increases for our teachers last year it's $14.1 million increase there's one common theme about all of those increases last year in our budget none of those decisions were made locally they were all made in Atlanta and those costs were passed down uh to you if those not if those things will continue
012to happen year after year um costs are passed along to the school system if you get to point where the millage rate cap is reached you can't go past it revenues decrease that's where you run into issues because those mandates are going to continue to come year after year flexibility is a key piece for you as you consider whether to opt in or opt out go to the next one Mike if the cap had been in place during this fiscal year we estimated would have lost up to 17.4 million that's with an 8.11% growth last year in the digest and a 4.10 CPI U we're still not clear on exactly what index will be used to measure inflation uh in this will it be a local Regional or national inflation indicator that will be used
013uh to measure the amount that an assessment could go up um I've already mentioned local option sales tax uh that can help local governments but school systems cannot uh participate in that one thing to talk about to think about is how House Bill 581 might impact your ability in the future uh if there were to be uh housing market adjustments or recession remember and I'll talk about it here shortly um austerity Cuts back during the Great Recession uh State funding went down uh local board here had the flexibility to be able to maintain the millage rate during that time uh House Bill 581 uh could be problematic for you u in your ability or in the future boards and superintendent ability uh to be able to adjust to those circumstances go the next one Mike
014state revenue um we opt in we become more dependent on state revenue I'll show you here in just a few minutes why that could be problematic as you look at it um opting out if you do have decreases in state funding you do have the flexibility to adjust uh to those decreases in state funding I will mention here um decreases in Federal funding been a lot of conversation lately about what may happen related to Federal funding um flexibility might be needed to adjust um to reductions that could come in federal funding I know last week at least there was a there was a recommended freeze on federal grants that would have included Title One title two title three and title four uh federal grants um and we are dependent on those um just for special
015education related services in our budget uh federally I believe Mr Chapman told me earlier today about $16 million is what we spend in idea each year so it's significant um no considerations uh in House Bill 581 for enrollment growth or any other local changes um 73% of our digest is residential uh this is a residential exemption it's it's for homesteaded properties only but it is a residential exemption so it's something that you uh need to consider I've already mentioned um the disproportionate impact of unfunded State mandates which are passed down to US every year uh it could could certainly have an impact on us there go the next one Mike just some key elements um it is an inflationary rate adjustment the assessed value can increase but it is capped by a rate that is
016to be determined um so so there could be uh increased assessment each year um the exemption reduces the amount of property taxes paid by ensuring the assessed value of an of a home home doesn't increase dramatically that is what it's what it is designed to do Mike if you go to the next one substantial property changes is largely like they are now uh if you do a substantial change to your property it can come back and reassess it and it can up the assessed value uh once once a homeowner applies and has granted the exemption uh the exemption is automatically renewed every year and then uh a very important Point here to remember board members um every other exemption that a homeowner may may have may have senior exemption veteran exemption others this has no
017effect on those whatsoever so they they maintain all of those exemptions I know there's been there's been some concern out there that my senior exemption may go away absolutely not this has nothing to do with that all of those would would certainly remain go to the next one for me Mike historic millage rate millage rate is 15.41% lowest in 43 years it's the lowest u in metro Atlanta uh with the exception of of herd County um you've lowered the rate four out of the last five years and I've already mentioned to you that you can't Levy more than 20 Mills go to the next one Mike this is just an example for you uh certainly click on it later if you'd like it's just mill rate and assess home value uh and what those school
018taxes are uh at those values uh based on 15.41% a mill rate comparison you can see how we compare to other districts here locally and around the metro area Mike this a line graph that shows you um historical millage rate you can see that green line there um it approached it looked like close to 20 I guess back in the 70s went back up and now it's down uh to 15 Point 41 you can see the red line there board members at the bottom that is debt or a bond Levy school system has been debt free uh since approximately 2002 2003 go to the next one Mike it's just another graph depicting was 2004 actually uh it looks like 2003 2004 when uh debt went away uh you can see the original senior tax exemption
019went in 2002 came back in uh right 19 I think it was approved and expanded uh there in 2020 go the next one Mike mentioned austerity reductions earlier this is State funding reductions on schools you can see they're about fy2 2009 uh State funding decreased by looks like about $6 million uh back at the beginning of of the Great Recession you can see there the next year fy20 uh State funding was reduced uh it looks like about 17 million there uh for the school district um when when I guess the best way to put it is when when things change the state will adjust um and and when the state does adjust we have to be able to have the flexibility school districts have to be able to have the flexibility to to make the
020adjustment um and and be sure that we can provide uh the education that our community expects from us might go the next one I've already mentioned these differences um Capital reserves school systems are the only entity that are the state the state doesn't have a cap on their Reserves um cities and counties there's no cap they can maintain as much as they like school systems uh have to have a cap of 15% our current Reserve amount uh allows us to operate the system from July until property taxes do come in uh in November and December uh currently um if if all other funding were to go away our Reserve accounts for about 6 to 8 weeks uh of operating expenses for the school system uh that's what we have I find it you know it's
021always interesting to me we're capped at 15% but when you hear a good financial planner personally or for your small business they say you want to have six months we we're Limited in that way by state law uh go to the next one Mike local fair shares something I mentioned to you earlier uh this is this is the amount we're required to pay to the state to participate in state QBE funding uh for fy22 we paid 27.7 million on local fair share that amount has increased uh over the last few years to $ 46.7 million that we pay uh to the state every year uh and it's dispersed to other school systems uh throughout the state um the three-year decrease that's a decrease in funding last three years for us $18.9 million mik go the
022next one it's a line graph that shows you local fair share over the years uh from about FY 1993 uh until current and you can see the trend there it hasn't gone down I mentioned earlier the difference between a Statewide and a local uh exemption this was voted as a Statewide exemption now they've said it's a local exemption what that means is that local fair share comes off the gross tax digest number before any exemptions are applied to it so what I'm saying to you board members is that means that the state's going to get that local fair share first so in in effect it's kind of a double it's a double hit for a school system number comes off the top then exemptions are applied and then the school system uh gets gets its
023Revenue to be able to educate students go the next one state funding you can see back in 99 2000 State funding there is in yellow it was 60.7% uh of our budget Mike go next 201415 it's 51.3 6% go the next one Mike this year it's 46.2% of our budget so that state the state funding piece of the budget has has closed in to a degree you got a reserve amount you're limited to you got a local fair share that continues to increase you got a millage rate cap and your state your percentage of budget that is state funded continues to continues to shrink that's the that's the reality of the situation that we have go the next one Mike fed County uh a few years ago they instituted legislature passed a 3% cap um
024you can go at your leisure click on the click on the article there um they've reduced 70 positions I think last year um they have a slightly higher millage rate than we have I think at 19.15 um it's a glimpse a little bit into the future of what could potentially happen uh if you were to opt in to House Bill 581 um I think there's a larger conversation about just how school systems are funded in general that's not the question I don't think for now but is a question maybe for down the road um because it is an imperfect system go to the next one the tool you have have uh to be able to um operate the school system and to to impact property taxes is the millage rate and I've said this I
025think the last three times to you that I presented this you don't assess home value that's a job for somebody else for the tax assessor the only thing that the board of education does is you Levy a millage rate uh that is that is necessary to be able to educate students here uh in the manner that this community expects us to um I don't know somebody came last last hearing and said there was a lot of what ifs and couldas and would Us in my presentation there's a lot we don't know about this um there there certainly is um I wish I wish I knew it all I don't know what it may mean 10 years down the road what I do know is is we have a deadline by March the 1st that you
026have to decide uh whether we're going to opt in or opt out and then what I have been told is and what school districts across the state have been told is you're either in or out at that time there is no going back and changing this decision has to be made by the deadline uh no action on your part we've opted in um a resolution choosing to opt out and then we've opted out and that that's the choice unless something else was to come down the road from the legislative level uh that would change that um so you know I I leave you with the question there at the bottom that I've had every time uh and I think it's it's the most relevant question uh is can we innovate fulfill our obligations if if
027we opt in and don't necessarily have the local control to do that uh can can 581 work for our students uh in the future that's the question that is before I'll be happy to take any questions that anybody has Mr Glover any questions question from the board for Dr Horton before we start public comments okay thank you DR Horton it's great information thank you before we start the public comment portion I just want to remind everyone uh each speaker will have three minutes uh we ask that each one be respectful of of the audience be respectful of each speaker uh we want to hear what each and every person has to say uh in their entirety um this is a uh obviously a public hearing and a public meeting and this uh please conduct it
028in professional manner and that said we'll go ahead and get started we do have a number of of speakers the first two are actually maybe holdovers from last Tuesday uh so they may not be here first name is a Thomas Countess okay Vashon Smith Mr Smith is here okay good evening Mr chairman members of the board let's talk numbers in six years property tax revenue in kawii county has surged by 64% during the same period student enrollment has remained flat this isn't sustainable growth that's called fiscal excess now there are some good positive things you maintain like you said the lowest millage rate in the metro area at 15.41% good excellent you carry zero debt also good also excellent but these raise a crucial question why with such strong financial positioning do you need to
029opt out of a voter approved tax limit in short you already have money why do you need more when Revenue grows 64% while Services stay level something's wrong here this isn't about needing more money it's about spending better you know obviously you argue that opting out provides Financial flexibility but real flexibility at least to me comes from efficient operation not unlimited taxing power yes there are concerns unexpected costs State slashin support maintaining quality education all are valid but the answer to alleviate those questions is not cart blanch courtesy of the kawii county taxpayer consider some Alternatives zerob based budgeting to justify every single dollar spent regular operational audits to identify inefficiencies public private Partnerships grant funding for specific programs and systematic review of administrative overhead other school districts across the state and the nation face
030these same challenges they're thriving why financial responsibility your recent budget shows millions in discretionary spending before asking us to pay more please prove your making the most of every dollar you already receive this isn't about cutting education it's about cutting waste every single dollar that you earn in tax revenue comes out of a family's pocket Grant mortgage food Etc and that applies to anyone whether they're a hot shot lore working in Atlanta making six figures or a single mom working at Kroger you have the means to provide an excellent education to the citizens of kawi County within reasonable means that is why I urge you tonight to respect the voters honor the tax cap and prove you can be trusted with the financial resources you already have without demanding more I yield my [Applause] time
031good evening School scho board members friends and neighbors my name is Jonathan rajala and I'm speaking in favor of HB 581 I stand before you tonight not just as a resident of kawi County but as a husband a father and a hardworking Georgian who believes in securing a better future for our families in kawi County like many of the fine men and women who sit and stand behind me we all know what it feels like to open our property tax bill every year and wonder how much more can we take the cost of living continues to rise inflation and shrinkflation have bombarded us since covid with no end in sight now let me ask you a question who were the people that voted you into the seats you sit in today we did the people
032of kawia County these are the very same people who voted for tax relief not a tax increase voting in favor of this bill brings stability to our families and our community it keeps us from being taxed out of our homes it ensures equal measures in how local governments collect revenue and most importantly it puts control back where it belongs in the hands of the people this bill puts an end to outof control property tax increases by capping the amount our home values can rise for tax purposes this means no more shocking jumps and property taxes that Force families especially our elderly and those on fixed income out of their homes they've worked so hard for we want to raise children in our homes we want to enjoy our grand children in our homes we want
033to retire and die in our homes our homes in kawi county and HB 581 makes that possible tonight I ask you what kind of future do you want for our children a future where they can afford to stay in their hometowns buy their own homes and raise their families without fear of endless tax hikes or a future where they are forced to sell their homes their land and their inheritance board members the choice is yours stand up for our elderly stand up for your neighbors stand up for our children and grandchildren we are all counting on you to make the right decision the future is in your hands honor God honor our vote and vote in favor of HB 581 thank you for your time next we have shaa Trel Mr chairman members of the
034board my name is Shauna trep I'm a property tax pay homeowner in kawia County I'm also a mom my daughter attends a kawia County public school there are a lot of passions around this issue but I would argue that no passion is greater than that of a parent doing what is in the best interest of the child and for me that is a strong and well supported school system providing a quality education that will set our children up for success in life how do we tell our children that they are the future and then not invest in that how do we raise the next generation of doctors engineers and CEOs if we continue to underfund their education highquality education is an investment in the community's future by maintaining adequate funding for today's students we ensure
035the next generation is prepared to contribute meaningfully to society and leading to stronger local economy well-funded schools attract families businesses and Investments which benefit the entire area school rankings are a major factor when families make decisions on where to live and work families will leave or choose other counties if our school systems are not performing well we want kawia to be a thriving Community we want investment from businesses to bring high quality jobs to the area and we need an educated Workforce to do that education is not a luxury to be cut out when times are hard is integral to building a thriving community and securing the future you say that we can't afford to opt out but I say that we can't afford not to the millage rate has decreased four of the last
0365 years it's at the lowest rate since 1983 our schools are not immune to inflation who here can say that their costs and expenses are the same that they were pre pandemic in health insurance costs are rising energy costs continue to rise for the schools as well we cannot expect our schools to operate without accounting for their cost costing increases opting out is not a tax increase it is maintaining local control of our property taxes and school funding rather than handing it over to the state the current exemptions including the elderly exemption for senior citizens of Kaa County are not affected without the optout the taxable value of our properties will no longer fluctuate depending on Market factors but rather based on inflationary percentages we've all felt High inflation and it seems to that it
037will only continue Rising why would we tie our property tax rate to inflation which is calculated based on the cost of consumer goods and services rather than the market value of our home and why would we relinquish control of calculating our property taxes to the state the language on the proposal in November included the statement that any County government municipality or local school system May opt out upon the completion of procedures it was there in writing when we were casting our vote the school system May opt out and they were following the required procedures why why put an opt out clause in a constitutional amendment because state legislators knew it would create major funding deficits um we don't need the state to take control of our local property taxes we certainly don't need additional um
038we need to maintain control of our um school systems and invest in M TR your time is up thank [Applause] you next is Nathan Burns ladies and gentlemen of the board come to you tonight again to oppose your motion to opt out of amendment one and I do so as a Christian father of a young and growing family I'll begin with three passages of scripture First Genesis 1: 128a then God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the Earth and subdue it Deuteronomy 6 6-8 in these words which I command you today shall be in your heart you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk to them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up
039Ephesians 6:4 and you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord Christian fathers like myself have duties they must fulfill in obedience to God's word we must be fruitful and we must instruct our children in the training and admonition of the Lord this means providing them with a thoroughly Christian education to quote VOD bacham we cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans while civil magistrates have the authority to Levy taxes the duty of Education falls on fathers not the state as Christians we teach our children to honor thy fathers while your schools demonize men like Christopher Columbus and Thomas Jefferson we teach them that God made man male and female
040after his own image you teach them that we crawled from a puddle of primordial ooze we teach righteousness and virtue while you teach diversity equity and inclusion that's why you're seeing stagnant numbers in enrollment while options like homeschool and classical education flourish and yet even though your numbers dwindle and our children won't set foot in your Halls you still receive 68% of our property taxes the board of assessors runs unchecked padding property values while you and the Board of Commissioners threaten mill rate hikes year over-year you claim it's for the kids but we know the truth based on recent data the average cost of socialist school in America is roughly $177,000 per student while the cost of comparable private school is roughly 75% less sitting at $9,700 per student if you account for special education
041that number still sits at a staggering 58% difference I'll step out of the limb here and say that perhaps we're not paying for the students to receive a superior education we're paying for kawi County's bureaucratic wayte for reference the vice president United States JD Vance yeah earns a salary of $235,000 a year while superintendent Horton takes home a staggering 343,000 total compensation package fathers like myself who live in the real world have had enough enough waste enough greed our children belong to us not you and as the Proverbs say a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children and so we the voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of amendment one we did so because we have a sacred mandate to educate our children and raise them in the pidea of God sharp arrows in
042our Quivers ready to fight for the expansion of Christ's Kingdom doing this requires resources resources that I can Steward more wisely than you ever could your motion to opt out of amendment one is a violation of our trust I implore you to repent and follow the righteous path I yield my time next is Brent [Applause] Frost wow tried to follow that I'll be uh I'll be uh try to be a little more uh humorous but uh I completely concur with the previous statements by the way um I would like to bring some uh statistical facts regarding the income of cow wheatens particularly those who are in the middle and lower middle classes to y'all's attention and this is in regard to why it would not be a good idea at this time to make it
043easier to raise taxes on them in 2000 the average American wage was $32,000 a year in 2022 it was approximately $64,000 a year now we all know that inflation in various sectors of the economy has really killed certain things we also know that that prices and things like computers have gone down through the years so looking for something that was strong to put a true measurement of the purchasing power of Working Families in CA I looked up the price of an ounce of gold in 2000 and the pr uh price of an ounce of gold today well guess what in the year 2000 the average American worker could purchase if they wanted to 115 ounces of gold a year with what they earned in a year that same average American today could only buy 36
044115 versus 36 gold has a remarkable staying power through the years these little coins they they can stand up to almost anything including a nuclear blast think about it when Millennials went into the workforce for the first time in 2000 when the oldest of the Millennials went into the workforce we were on the high of the 1990s but by 2010 the average American was making when you look at something real purchasing power was making less than half what they were in 20 in 2000 and today it's lower still but here's an even better example Homer Simpson good old Homer in 1989 Homer Simpson your lovable bumbling inspector right what does he make he's a nuclear safety inspector he makes a normal middle class wage and he can afford to support a wife who's a stay-at-home
045mom three children and live in a two-story middle class Suburban home you try finding someone today who can do something like that on a typical middle class wage in any Suburban County near Atlanta not a chance folks it's pretty obvious we're all stretched you got young families here do you really need more of their money more than they do I think we both know the answer to that thank you very much next is Thomas subber good evening my name is Tom subber um I'm coming here today to speak in opposition to the school board's expressed intent to opt out of amendment one 51,000 citizens of kawia County voted in favor of the passage of amendment one which is 63.1 14% in favor our nation is a representative Republic and we vote for whom we hope
046are the most qualified and the most trustworthy individuals to go into the public sphere represent the people by projecting the people's voice and carrying out the people's dictates if a school board can flagrantly disregard the dictate of 51,000 citizens in this County who voted overwhelmingly in a free election in the affirmation of amendment one then our county is in really big trouble it means um that our vote is really meaningless if this board can vote in opposition to Citizens according to the arbitrary whims and self-serving desires of several and ultimately one a non-elected individual the superintendent then we are recipients of an exertion of power that is dictatorial and tyrannical in nature I read an article which said that the superintendent had expressed a desire to opt out of amendment one in order to keep
047the management of our taxes local but I cannot think of a more fitting expression of local tax management than an open and free election that speaks a dictate by a super majority of Voters to their elected representatives expressing their desire for local tax manages management via their vote we are asking you to reaffirm our trust and to fulfill your duty to the dictates that were handed down to you by the citizens of this County we are also asking that you would not enable a non-elected official to exert dictatorial power over our lives we ask that you would not impose government policies upon us the citizens of this County did not agree to and are in direct opposition to what the voters in this County dictated to you the word of God tells us in Proverbs
048that when righteous people those who are good people with Integrity when those people are in power the people re rejoice and they are glad and in the same verse the Proverbs tell us that when the wicked Rule and are in power people weep They Mourn we need leaders who are morally upright and have an interest in seeing us the people Rejoice over the good and faithful decisions that our local government has made in our name and by our power thank you Zahara [Applause] Billings good evening everyone my name is Thea Billings and I represent District 2 I want to thank everyone for being here to discuss an issue that affects all of us the future of our schools I'm here to urge our district to opt in to the proposed plan because opting out could
049lead to devastating Cuts in the state funding this including quality basic education local fair share and the equalization Grant these programs are essential to our schools and we cannot afford to lose them here here's why opting in is the right choice one our students deserve better QBE funding UR our schools have the resources to hire great teachers maintain safe facilities and offer programs that prepare our students for Success opting out risks losing these resources and our students will suffer two protecting critical funding local fair share and Equalization grants help level the playing field for districts like ours without them we'll risk falling behind opting in Safeguard these funds and ensures quality equality for our schools three avoiding Financial strain we've already faced Cuts this year opting out could mean deeper Cuts leading to larger class
050sizes fewer extracurricular activities and fewer resources for our children we can't let this happen four strengthening our community strong schools mean strong Community when our schools Thrive property values rise businesses grow and kaita County becomes a better place to live for all opting in is an investment in our future some may argue that opting out preserves local control but the real risk is losing the funding our schools depend on so greatly this is about our students our teachers and our community let's choose to protect them I urge you to stand with me a mother of three who pays taxes and Visually see things contribute every day to our school systems let us protect our schools our funding and our future to together we can ensure kaita County remains a place where every child has the
051opportunity to succeed thank you next is Linda mink okay we can we'll come we can come back to miss mink uh let's go on to Lai Nome I'm pretty sure they're going to do this they always do what Keith Horton says they aren't going to stop now 51,000 voters doesn't matter to them so we must decide what we are going to do based on what they do what do I mean by that I don't know right now I'm thinking maybe recall all of them so look around tonight see all the people you're sitting near that you've been talking to before and that you've gotten to know we need to continue to get to know each other we've got to keep this movement going if we do we will win eventually maybe not right now but
052we will eventually so y'all get to know each other because we got to get back in touch and keep this movement going thank you we'll go back to Linda mink thank you for waiting um I guess I'm going to sound like a broken record the same thing that I discussed last week uh you have a problem with out ofcontrol spending you obviously do not know how to budget that is a fault with your central office it's not with your teachers it's not with your bus drivers it's not with the sanitation workers it's not with the food service workers it's you you cannot manage a budget if you could we wouldn't be having meetings like this cut central office by 50% and the rest of you take a 25% pay cut that's a good start get
053your budget under control because obviously you're not intelligent enough you don't have the expertise to do this it's not hard moms and dads out there are doing it at home right now in order to pay mortgages to pay car payments groceries gas doctor appointments everything else and somebody you made the comment that senior citizens this isn't going to impact senior citizens let me tell you what happens with senior citizens when their kids get in trouble senior citizens reach into their retirement and help a bailout if they can't afford if they're squeezed so tight or they pay for the college education of their children families need this money you do not need the money let's please keep the Applause to a a a reasonable level please between between each speaker so I can call the next
054one the next is a Carrie and I apologize I cannot read the last name sunwal maybe okay hey excuse me sir what's my mic on sir sir we have students in here and I heard what you said don't no one's what you just said and if you say it again I'm going to ask them to have you leave I'm looking at you okay thank you Carrie sunvold thank you guys for having me here um so after last meeting I went home and I decided to look up the definition of public servant what the internet yielded was government official and employee I work in the capacity of service to the public but different than you guys I work in healthc care as I mentioned last week I decided to reflect on what makes someone a good
055public servant including myself first of all the willingness to serve I think is very valuable um certain characteristics come into play too and there are many that make one a good public servant but the ones that I feel U are valuable to me are kindness compassion and empathy and also being a good active listener where I can take the information presented to myself and make good decisions for the people that I serve so as a healthcare worker patients come to me and ask for help on issues they cannot accomplish themselves and sometimes that's a simple phone call and sometimes that's staying really late um I've never once going home and regretted going to bat for a patient I'm in a reverse role here I'm standing before you the board asking for you to go to
056bat for me the homeowner as well as community members that feel as I do I know not all do but the ones that do I'm asking for uh your help in keeping the um homestead exemption as is so people will remember one another for different reasons they'll remember you for your sense of humor for as an example they'll remember you for a good skill set they remember you for your decisions good or bad most often they'll remember you for your bad decisions I ask that you be remembered for standing up for the uh community of kaita County homeowners vote with empathy and mind for the kaita county homeowners keep our homest set exemption I yield my time thank you next is Dan Miller uh good evening um I I feel a little less prepared than
057everyone else that had something written out but um I've I've had several discussions already today so I I feel like I'm prepared for furthering those discussions um and thank you for the presentation and explaining the you know complexity of the issues coming around as far as the finances go but I do want to kind of address a couple things that were in there you know one of the issues that was noted was that if the you know cap was in place this year that would have led to a $17 million reduction in funding which could be made up by a simple 06 increase in the millage rate and you have plenty of room for that so what we're looking at here is yes we've had a lower millage rate than most of the other areas
058for good amount of time but what's left out of that discussion is every time property valuation which is half of the equation has gone up this board has chosen not to accept the full roll back rate which has increased the taxes for the taxpayers of this County over and over and over and we have asked multiple times over and over to roll those rates back to the suggested roll back rate and that has not been accomplished what you're seeing here is the result of the fact that we don't trust you to manage this budget anymore we no longer trust that and we have to be able to trust our leadership and we have to be able to trust the people that we elected and we simply do not that is why people voted to take
059the control to a different level that is why people voted to get their taxes under control and that is why we're all here or many of us are here to represent that the majority of the taxpayers voted to have things put in place to control this now the point has been made several times that we all voted for a legislation that allows opt out I would be willing to bet that the majority people in this room would have preferred that that language not be in the vote because I would have taken it out myself thank you again I'm going to ask please refrain from making comments um while the speaker is speaking is very disrespectful and it's hard for us to follow each speaker with uh side comments and side conversations going on uh next
060is Harry Mullins good evening DR Horton Mr Glover board members thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you tonight it's a good seeing you first I want to commend you for the outstanding job you have done managing the largest transportation system Food Service program and being one of the largest and not the largest employer in Cy county is not easy you have led us through Co today Demolition and rebuild of unit High School which could not have been done as smoothly without the reserve funds that you strategically had in place along with that you are responsible for 30 plus schools the Nixon Center Performing V for performing in Visual Arts they ever grow in central education center as well as other facilities like the one we in a night you have managed
061to do that and many other things while maintaining the lowest millage rate in over 40 years and while also meeting High academic standards for approximately 23,000 students job well done that brings to my point why I'm here tonight it is my opinion that you are at the crossroads with funding our schools House Bill 581 if approved will make you future superintendents and future board members more dependent on state government some there are not allies of public schools and their voting records of diverting funds from local school systems is evident through the Geor even though the Georgia State Constitution states it shall be a primary obligation for the state Georgia to fund it simply stated you will be very restricted in what you can do and the services you can provide to our school system I'm
062here tonight as a retired grandfather that lives on a fixed income and has four grandchildren in our school system I've been very pleased with the quality of instruction education that they've received as well as it was when my two daughters were in school here I trust that you'll continue to provide the level of services for our grandchildren and other students in C County school system with that said I hope you op out a 581 while you can and maintain the different funding options that you presently have one of the primary responsibilities that you know as a school board members provide funding for the school system decades ago when I was on the board we were facing a difficult and controversial decision I went to a good friend of mine Mr Henry selom asked him his
063opinion Mr selon said Mullins do what's right and you don't have to look back I hope tonight you do what later when you vote that you vote to op out of 581 do what's right for the students of Cy County thank [Applause] you next we have Tom subber Mr okay I guess we have you on the list twice some reason next is Maxwell Brenton good evening um I'm opposed to the opt out let's be clear opting out of amendment one isn't just bad policy it's political betrayal this wasn't a close call it was a landslide voters across Georgia including 51,000 in kaeda County demanded relief they voted to cap outof control property taxes and protect homeowners retirees and Working Families from being taxed out of their homes the message was undeniable cap taxes respect the
064voters and stop the greed let's be real this wasn't even controversial in a Georgia house 164 members voted yes only two voted no neither represent Ka Kaa County in the Senate 52 members voted yes not a single one opposed it the overwhelming majority of legislators the kawi delegation the voters of Georgia and the voters of kawia County all agree this is the right thing to do I hope this board agrees as well yet you're considering rejecting that mandate ignoring the will of the people and undermining the very taxpayers you were elected to serve that is not leadership that is a mistake but mistakes can be corrected Kaa County voters aren't here to fight their school board we're here to be heard we stand for the families the retirees and the homeowners who put their trust
065in this process and we expect you to do the same this is your opportunity to do the right thing to listen to the people honor their vote and prove that you stand with the voters not against them the choice is yours stand with us respect the will of the people and you'll have our trust because at the end of the day Kaa County believes in accountability fairness and leaders who serve with Integrity thank you next is Neil Sullivan good evening my name is Neil Sullivan I'm a new kaita County resident moved here six we six months ago from Peach Tree City my first uh vote in kuita County I voted for HB 581 although I have supported public education in many writings in LED East blaston F County it's unfortunate the legislature even put this
066opt out in the bill the voters voted and now they put you in a very bad situation I oppose any opt out but the superintendent used my words in uh from the FED citizen I have a column there and he T and he talked about where Fay at uh two years ago the voters voted 70% to put an lb7 Homestead 3% cap in place they did that because the board put a East blast vote in 2018 I was the chairman they wrote they gave a list in Booth Middle School was $10 million of rehab funds after the vote passed they built brand new Booth middle school for $46 million they Lo and the voters went to the house of house representative who put the lv7 on the ballot 70% passed it and now F County
067had to cut 70 school-based positions is p budget and as DR Horton will tell you the uh benefit numbers the pension numbers they're going to get cut again so the question the interesting thing though the three board members who voted yes on a on purchasing the school got reelected so I'm not going to say you'll be kicked out but I will ask what do you think happens that same representative represents part of Quita County are we going to get the opportunity to vote for an lb7 instead there'll be no opting out of that or the next East blast does that get voted down so the question is do you want no do we keep the vote of the do you veto the votes of the voters or do you keep our trust do we work
068together to find option and uh trying to think of the word Lobby our legislature to make other options to make East blast towards operational at least half of it and then you know Finding options where taxes don't change but we get the schools the money they need my wife is a retired educator I believe in public education but I worry if we if you do this what rep what the ramifications are going to be as an accountant I'm far better writing than I am publicly speaking so I'm going to stop now thank you next is Walter Sprout thank you Mr Horton and and the board first time I've spoke here I don't know any of you but I will tell you this I moved to Kaa County back in 2021 I moved from Douglas County
069and um it was a Great Awakening when I got here uh the taxes we bought our home uh I added a little outdoor shed or garage to my house and my assessment went up about $40,000 and uh with that I found out in K County we pay school taxes I'm 70 years old my wife's fixing turned 75 we're on fixed income now I worked 43 years in public safety I worked EMS I worked fire and I worked law enforcement and during that period of time I worked multiple jobs I worked two you know two jobs sometimes three at one time trying to make ends meet working those extra jobs one thing I was taught when I was young was to use uh retirement plans so I started doing that and I put back every chance
070I got and my wife was she's a nurse we met now this year we'll get a break but we won't get it till next year when she uh because she's 75 this year we don't get to take that but I want to draw some attention to the 20 23 millage rates in surrounding areas I noticed and we move from Douglas County that their rate is 19.5 Kida county is 15.41% appreciate the school board uh we got family that have been Educators and still are and so what's going to end up happening is is you just keep going up on this you've got to start managing the money that you get I heard some say earlier about you know uh grants the grants are still going to be there and as Mr Horton had said earlier
071um you talk talking about things like um don't know what's going to happen it may happen it may not happen these are things that we don't know I'll be honest with you uh I serve uh right now in uh with the public uh I'm local councilman down in my district and we've had to look at opting out I'm going to ask youall to opt out there's got to be a better way of funding the school system I paid for my kids to go to private school and I paid them their way through college and I finished paying it off in ' 67 but I'm going to say stop doing the tax increases thank you next is Jasmine Mian good evening um I'm here this evening in opposing to opt out of the HB 581 that
072we the people in majority voted for on November 5th we voted for a very needed tax relief and what has occurred in this country over the last four years has been devastating to many families you will still have the option to increase our taxes via VIA the millage rate if you decide to bring that to the table that is not being taken away from you the amendment cap is on home values and being that you all do not participate in that process and would still have control over millage rates this should be a no-brainer there has not been substantial growth on the student side of the county but our administrators are many and have continually increased over the last few years there are a lot of employees that we as pay that we as taxpayers
073pay that we don't know what they do exactly why do we have such a surplus of administrative Personnel I told the County Commissioners a while back to tighten up their budget and I believe you all should do the same maybe we need a kawia doge task force created that would be interesting I for one have not enjoyed we cannot miss me hand stop please stop the timer I'm sorry I can't um please refrain from the comments or clapping or anything else while the speaker is speaking it is very disrespectful and this is a professional meeting and I'm going to conduct it as such thank you sir I apologize Miss Mian thank you I for one have not enjoyed my property tax value increase to the extent that it has over the last few years we
074are up 71% in home value since 2021 we built in 2019 we have made no improvements but somehow we are 71% higher in value in just a 5year time as much as it's been acknowledged that you all have lowered the millage rate over the last few years it doesn't negate property values being inflated which has helped make up the difference for you we need the cap I had the pleasure of attending a hearing just yesterday with the Board of Equalization and was truly shocked by how little attendance there was with all that's going on I really expected more people to be there to dispute their appeals however I digress the tax power the taxpayers in this County need and voted for a break as we patiently wait for the president to correct many issues we
075face as a nation we rely on our local local elected officials to do the most they can and in the best interest of the citizens they represent and you all have an opportunity to do that next week to close the people of this County may not care about the perversion and filth in our school media centers and bookshelves in some classrooms Dei training and the implementation brought Upon Us and other Progressive garbage that's been presented to to our kids but they care about their hard-earned money the citizens will not forget this come re-election time I have become very familiar with the board's way of doing things and I'm very aware that you have probably already decided what you guys are going to do so nothing that we say really matters these meetings are simply held
076because the gold Dome said so so I hope at least a few of you will find a change of heart in this decision over the next week I ask you to pray about it and let the Lord guide you in this decision vote as an indiv idual and not as influenced by your fellow board members thank you next is Barry [Applause] Roland good evening I would like to address the old adage it is for the children yes property taxes that we pay go toward educating feeding and taking care of our children during the day but don't forget that as parents and grandparents also need that money to house feed and take care of our children's needs at home the parents and grandparents have spoken loudly that enough is enough and that we expect you to
077honor our vote by opting in to cap property tax increases next is Jessica Richards hello board um I'd like to talk to you about uh not opting out of HB 581 um I voted for this because I wanted the counties to be held accountable at a state level um and this cute map that we had in the presentation we show all these green counties that are opting in while cob County School Board was recently found guilty of embezzling on a massive scale so I don't really care care what other corrupt school boards are doing um so I that don't really find that persuasive um I moved here several years ago from Utah which is ranked number 10 in education has the lowest um per capita spending on pupils in the nation yet we're ranked number
07810 Georgia as a state is ranked number 26 um our super our our superintendents at Dr Horton's level are paid on an average of 70,000 not 343,000 um so if uh if uh superintendent Horton makes 343,000 a year plus a fat pension which most of people never even have a pension that is in the top 3% of salaries in the United States I would then expect that the Kua County schools are in the roughly top 3% of schools in the nation um now since Georgia's 26 in the nation uh these numbers are actually just within Georgia so take these numbers and then put it as 26th of that um ainson Elementary and glanton Elementary are tied for last place they are 937 to 1,249 in Georgia they're so low that they just stop counting the
079rankings um Jefferson Parkway is 934th in Georgia AR Co Sergeant Elementary is 842nd and we go to our three high schools um East Kaa is 171st n and high is 140th and Northgate High is 65th um teachers in comparison are paid roughly 45 to 50,000 a year in this County bus drivers are 12 to 18 an hour with no benefits um there are teachers in our Kua schools asking on next door and Facebook for textbooks for their students there are kids sitting out in the heat and cold because there aren't enough bus drivers and so they have to wait for the entire route to finish to come pick them back up um there really is no reason to support the kaita school board to override our vote um to further locally control our taxes when
080one we already voted for them not to and they are appropriate aren't appropriately spending the money they have um there needs to be definitely better budget runting skills maybe you can go to my hometown of Utah and and take some lessons from them um in addition uh the superintendent has three highly paid assistant superintendents making anywhere from 180,000 to over 200,000 each so between the four of them and roughly a million dollars in Revenue just for them they still thought failed to write a simple budget that actually serves our students um K school system administrators don't need more of our money they need to be held accountable um it's not going to the kids it's going to an ineffective Administration and they're they've taken plenty of the money already and they're spending it on themselves
081thank you next is Chris Moon good evening to the members of the school board there's a there's a saying that all politics is local I never realized how true that is until this past year we citizens have a duty to vote for the policies we espouse as well as the people we want to represent us in implementing those policies there's never there's been a lot of talk about unelected bureaucrats making policy that affects all of of our daily lives we have a perfect example of it right here in this County in this room we have a superintendent who is unelected who is telling us that we the voters can be overturned with the vote of this board read the room our County Citizens voted for this amendment you do not know their budgets or finances
082nor do you seem to care just remember if you out pric living in this County causing people to move there will be no customer base for you therefore no need for you keep this in mind when you determined how you vote you may think we can be replaced but we know you can be replaced thank you next is Claudia Kesler I think I've reading that right I'm gonna move this over sorry I don't think I'm tall enough all right good evening board members I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today uh I speak um so that we do not opt out of house bill um 581 opting out of this exemption could have significant consequences for the residents that we all serve and I believe it's important to consider the broader implications before making
083such a decision um as we have mentioned we have seen why we shouldn't opt out from various instances including increased tax burden to home homeowners negative impact on our community stability um and we under and it would undermine our local economic health looking around the room I have seen plenty of generations of people um who have lived here and supported this community and I'm sure supported your schools and I think ultimately that if we op out that would be detrimental to how much we would Thrive as a community once more the long-term effects of this I can speak to are on the housing market that's simply just what I work in um you risk diminishing the attractiveness of kawi to County as a school system if you were to opt out and I say this
084because a lot of the data that was um presented um is very circumstantial when I look at it um I don't know how your board operates but I report to a board myself um and you need to be asking yourself some of the the questions of you know the data that contains State funding graphs um the reductions the millage rate approval none of that is present to prior to to covid most of that data was presented at 2018 2020 and 2022 on some cases realistically speaking it is a bit concerning that all this seems rushed I do want to inform you that part of my job is I am lobbying on this kind of event I work with home builders in the state of Georgia and they actually lobbied for the house bill 581 it
085is concerning that it wasn't brought up that the amendment for this bill is House Bill 92 and it is currently being passed uh well it is in favor passed by the house committee uh as of the 29th of January um where they are amending the time frame from March 1st to May 1st that would give enough time for the school's post um exams and enrollment to uh take that into consider ation as you see fit with your budget um in conclusion opting out of this homestead exemption could have significant consequences for our community um and I think it is um just a point to know that many people state that this doesn't have an effect on people but I can tell you that from the increase in power bills in kawia county or the increase
086in your water bills or the new facilities that are popping up everything has a cost and um something that I was taught at a very young age was that everybody is replaceable and that may seem true to trickle down to wherever your job is thank [Music] you next is Richard bless uh good evening everyone good evening everybody um I heard some amazing people here I don't want to take too much time I did not have time to prepare a statement I would just like to say that um everybody in Georgia everybody in kawia everybody wanted voted for this referendum in November um and for you to sort of take yourself out of it is against the will of the voters of kawi County and I disagree with that so I'm against you opting out is
087that right I'm against you opting out yeah thank you very much next is Shon [Applause] Miller and Mr Miller if You' put the microphone back uh stra thank you I'll do my best good evening I'm Shawn Miller I'm opposed to opting out I brought a graphic fville County School Board spends an average of $155,000 per student and we spend 20,000 per student what is our return on investment I looked at the state audits from 2014 to 20124 the red line is the revenues actual spending and the green line is the inflation rate inflation 32% spending 77% you're overspending at the same time enrollment is about 3% which is unsustainable I would like to see a master plan how is kaita County becoming the most sought-after place to buy a house and live this doesn't work
088it's not sustainable there is a term I learned in college called town and gown that's the relationship between a college and the surrounding town they work together they need each other and they find ways to grow together look at Starkville Mississippi Austin Texas ug LSU any college or university the town and University have a relationship we value our kaita County School System we have what we have here is a disconnect what you're doing and the way you're doing it looks bad you even tell us what we are you don't even tell us what we're getting for the spending here's the truth you can't exist without us and we need people to run our school system let's just be honest so let's start working this out let's start with affordability a cap on spending no greater
089than inflation opting into Amendment one and having the highest average test scores in the state of Georgia how about that we we you win we win you know this this is this works for us and if we can shoot for those goals maybe we can get it and this will attract new home buyers to our County and those new home mortgages will be the source of the school's revenues let's make it affordable for Everyone by opting in let's refocus on improving our County School Systems value and image so new home buyers want to move and live here and spend their tax dollars here because it's a great value thank you next is Carol Miller I wouldn't be in your places for anything right now I tell you you guys got a lot I don't en
090you at all you've had compelling arguments I'm sorry I do that you think the way I talk at home I talk like this but you've had all of these compelling arguments on both sides and I would imagine that you're just probably like this right now because you're hearing all of us express our frustration and I'm sure you're frustrated too because you guys are good guys you're smart you wouldn't be there where you are if you weren't you know and you've got a heavy duty decision ahead of you I just you'll be in my prayers I know that's been said a lot but I sincerely mean that you do thank you for letting us speak I'm going to keep this short and simple um I started not to speak tonight because you know you get sick
091and see the same old faces here over there okay okay what's she going to say she's going to say the same old thing again no but um I just want you to listen to the voters just listen to us um the majority of us voted in November about what we desire that you to opt out on this I don't know all the legal E I don't know all the political e and all the terms I can take your appendix out but I can't do what you're doing I'll tell you I can't do that so but please we homeowners are already pushed we are paying higher prices for everything we higher taxes everything all the charts and all the stats and all that stuff it doesn't tell the whole story the bottom line is if you
092opt out our taxes will increase maybe not this year but it will over time all those 30s and 40s people have got they bought homes and they're settled in they're going to start looking at these higher and higher and higher taxes as it goes on and higher things prices of things that that goes on is not going to be a good picture this is going to affect everybody everybody in the County School Employees retail Factory workers retired people wealthy people poor people fixed income people everybody's going to be affected if they have a home will the incomes rise to meet those taxes no don't think so I sure wish I could use that extra $200 they took out of they raised our taxes $200 a month property taxes went up I sure could use that
093now I tell you look down the line to the implications and think for yourself think for yourself go home and meditate on this this think about this and look at everything look at the big picture look at the implications of what opting out is going to do people are going to suffer they're going to suffer it's going to be hard I already have patience sorry okay don't let this be your legacy okay thank you so much I appreciate it next is Sandy Hanner good evening I ran for school board in 2016 I came in second so I'm not up there today if I was I would be voting to uh not opt out and that is for the sake of the people that are sitting here and that voted you in and so just as
094you've been entrusted with the votes of the people which in a sense makes them your employer because they're the one paying for the salaries we're asking that you hear us and you honor the voice of the people when hp5 581 was voted with a very high yes we want this it was a voice of people crying out saying there's so much pressure on us right now financially we need a break we're seeing things like that happen at the federal level where they're saying what can we do to get rid of excess what can we do to get rid of extra bureaucracy which is taking money away from where it should really be I think that what we're hearing from a lot of the people today is we're all for the children receiving an excellent education
095everyone here wants that that's an understood but we believe that there is spending that is not being used in the best way possible and we believe that things can be adjusted so that money is better used I stepped into to a position after um coming in second for the school board which is in a nonprofit missions organization and I handle all the money coming in and out of it people give us money and we go to the Nations and we're making a difference You' be amazed at the difference we're making in the Nations what would with what would seem a small budget we ourselves sacrifice so that we can send the money to where it counts this has been the greatest honor of my life we're asking you to do the same thing and I
096thank you for considering that and I'll just say that I think part of what I hear in some of the attitudes here is that people are saying we're not trusting that you're really overseeing our funds well I do that very carefully with a missions organization I work with we're asking you to do this same for us thank you next is Donna grabo Garbo is Donna here last call okay okay so you wish not to speak could say a word come to the podium you're your name is on the list you have the opportunity that's Donna G by the way um Ford and superintendent um I've lived in CWI to County now since 1990 and since 1992 I've been a homeowner I have no children and there have been times when I kind of resented the
097taxes that I have to pay but um I know that the children are a future I know that's a little cliche but I know that that is the truth so I resolve myself with it but now that I am facing Senior Life um I'm 71 now I ended up having to go out of work a few years earlier than I planned because of some health issues so this year I was the first time I really got sticker shock on having it's the first year I really was short on my escrow and when you're on you know a limited uh fixed budget it does make it very difficult to have to come up with that kind of money um and I'm thinking I can understand you know the presentations that we've had that there can be
098pros and cons to both options I think when you present your decision it would be really nice to see a chart of opting in opting out pros and cons why you make the decision that you do in particular after seeing all of the input from the um community and I do agree that um I I would rather see you opt out um there was one thing that I did hear in I believe it was the superintendent's presentation um can I ask a question now or not now okay okay all right so I did have a question about in my mind about sales tax and where I'm going with that in my mind is I don't know how many homeowners we really have moving in anymore but we sure have a lot of renters and they
099have children so if I understood something that I heard properly on opin versus opt out we could be missing out on rental people that are renting paying into the system that's it thank you next is Grant Ben Brimmer chairman Vice chairman members of the board citizens grace mercy and peace to you from God the father and our Lord Jesus Christ my name is Reverend Grant van Brimmer I have the privilege of pastoring at Trinity Reformed Church here in Nan I come before you today wearing my clerical collar which signifies who I am to serve my collar is a sign that I'm bound to the will of my master I am a servant of King Jesus and I am only permitted to do as he's commanded me to you too are bound to the will of
100others you too may only function in a capacity fitting your station you're elected by the people in this community and are only free in so far as your constituents allow you represent us and your people spoke plainly on the matter of House Bill 581 the Bible teaches those in Authority are Servants of the people not Masters over them in Romans 13 the Apostle Paul writes that governing authorities are God's servants for your good and that's what you should do it's prescriptive when King rooam and ignored his people's plea for tax relief he split his kingdom his arrogance destroyed what his father Solomon had built and this ancient lesson speaks directly to our situation today you may say you need the money for our schools but what good is a well-funded school system if families can't
101afford to live in this County who cares about more Revenue if you lose the trust of your people your choice is clear honor the voters will and protect our families or override them and bear the moral burden of that decision God hears the cries of his people and he sees the motivations of each one of your hearts nothing is hidden from his eyes at the end of all things each of you will answer to the one living and true God for how you carried out your duties so I urge you keep the homestead exemption show that you respect the will of the people demonstrate that you're committed to True stewardship remember you serve the people of this County and through them a higher authority your decision will Echo far beyond this room and long after
102this meeting ends and it isn't a question if but when you will bend the knee to King Jesus and confess him as Lord and give an account if you choose to do it now you invite his Blessing if you refuse you invite his correction if you want to be at peace with him and bring peace to your sphere of influence obey him carry out your duties in truth and with Integrity keep cool or keep noon in in Quita County a city of homes don't contribute to making it a place of burdens thank you for your time next is Mike [Applause] Nixon good evening and I'm here uh in opposition to opting out um I've listened to DR Horton uh speak to the difficulties that you have and the relationship that this board and the superintendents
103have to the state and how you manage money and what to look out for and historically what's happened um historically who can you depend upon who can you not wanting to be independent of the state but but that relationship is is uh what I've heard a lot from uh Dr Horton's uh presentation the difficulties um embedded in managing such a system as you all do so my hats off to you for those difficulties what happened I think in November was the spirit of the vote was to control our taxes because of the valuation of our properties that are skyrocketing so that vote was a very very very simple vote and I think it was well-meaning and it it meant something which is why you saw so many people um support Amendment one what I think
104that you are so focused on because you have to you you're focused on your relationship with the state this is the relationship that you're dealing with and I think this is the relationship that is Paramount there have been some great speakers with with a lot of great data a lot of information I hear though a lot of community Leaders The Millers here and our new friend from pet Tree City of the accountant who claims he's not a public speaker and I I would uh argue with that because he did a great job because what he spoke to was what's important is the relationship with us and how we work together and how we have to have trust between each other other to make this work and the we the highest priority and that's what that
105vote in November stated thank you Mr Nixon was our last speaker that had signed up are there any board members that wish to make any comments I want to thank everyone for coming tonight uh want to point out that no just no vote will be taken tonight obviously and no decision has been made we have one more public comment uh session on I think it's at noon next Tuesday on the 11th uh before the board regularly scheduled board meeting that evening uh so U again thank everyone for coming safe drive home do I have a motion to adjourn so move all those in favor motion pass to 7 to zero thank you