School bond: Banks benefit the most

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, February 5, 2003

A couple of years ago the Whidbey News-Times published a rather scathing letter to the editor which I wrote concerning my objections to what was, at the time, a proposed M&O Levy that Oak Harbor School District property owners were being asked to vote on (and subsequently passed).

Let me say that it was not the levy itself that I opposed. Nor am I opposed to a bond that would fund much needed improvements to the local high school. What I do oppose are the deceitful ways these bonds and levies are presented, or more accurately misrepresented, and the excessive (if not idiotic) funding strategies that are utilized in order to make them “appear” more palatable to voters.

In March, voters will once again head for the polls, this time being asked to vote for a $45 million school bond. This bond is being marketed as an increase of 90 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value and, undoubtedly, many voters will go to the polls believing just that. Somebody call the police because the voters are about to get hijacked! The school district has structured the bond payments to be 90 cents per $1,000 but only for the first two years. After that, it will cost local property owners approximately $1.20 per $1,000 for the following eight years, and then over $2.20 per $1,000 for the last six years of the bond. By back-loading the principal so they can sell it to the public for seemingly less than a buck, the school district will cause local property owners to cough up a grand total of $77 million dollars — $13 million more than if they had opted for a level debt service structure, which is also a potential $13 million more that could address other community needs.

Bonds and levies are a socially responsible and necessary burden most property owners willingly accept as a means of ensuring that the educational institutions of the community are safe and sound. The biggest beneficiary of this latest charade unfortunately won’t be Oak Harbor High School — it’ll be the bank.

James Wiley

Oak Harbor