Dear Editor,

Let me give you some information about myself so you will know I know what I’m talking about.  I started working for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in November 1971 as a school auditor and retired in 2000 with state funding. I have audited school districts from Texline to Port Isabel to Texarkana to El Paso and many in between. As a matter of fact, I did a small audit on Blanco ISD when Mike Atkins was superintendent, which resulted in no financial adjustment.

Here we go again. Same play- act two. The Blanco ISD school board is asking us to vote yes on a large bond issue again, which was defeated by the intelligent residents of Kendall County, residents who are eligible to vote. The board has broken it down into three proposals. If you remember, the school added 6 cents to the maintenance tax rate, making it $1.04.  If this bond issue should pass, it will add another 8 or 9 cents to the debt fund rate, which at this time is $.1117 cents per $100 evaluation of your homestead as well on any building you have that is not part of your homestead, such as a barn or an out-building. What happens if the appraisals go up? If all the bond issues are voted down, most likely the debt rate will go down, because we have less debt requirement to pay off.

So, do you want your taxes to go down or up? It is up to you, the voter. Especially with everything going up in prices, I would like to keep as much of my retirement pay as I can. The proposals have an adjustment for 6 months’ inflation. Wait a minute! The Social Security system sent me a letter stating my check will remain the same because there is no inflation. Who is telling the truth?

Prop 3 is for $718,000 for a tennis court when we only have about 14-20 students in the program and the committee was so proud to add $100,000 to technology.  Give me a break. With the state cutting back on school funding, the district asked for early notification of resignations of teaching positions. I would rather have them put the $718,000 to keep a wealth of teaching knowledge than to lose them, even though these monies can only be spent on construction. It would be cheaper for the school district to pay for these students to go to a tennis camp than build new courts when nothing is wrong with the old ones. The school’s CPA warned the school board about keeping the schools fund balance in a three-month operating balance, which is the state law. If the people want new tennis courts, why don’t they donate the money and I’m sure the school district will name it after them.

Bill Fojtasek

Blanco, TX