Homeowners in parts of Gilbert and Mesa can expect to pay a lot more in property taxes this year.
Over the summer, GPS' Governing Board approved this year's budget.
But few homeowners realized the impact of that vote until they recently received their property tax bill in the mail.
"I think it's getting to the point of being ludicrous," said Gilbert homeowner Jim Warburton.
Homeowners such as Warburton will pay $2 more in property taxes this year for every $100 of a home's assessed value.
It's the largest tax rate hike in the district since the early 1980s.
Warburton calls the increase excessive. "It's way overboard," he said. "I think there's other avenues they could explore to come up with revenues elsewhere."
A district spokesperson tells ABC15 the unusually high increase came from not having a rate hike last year even though one was needed.
Unlike Warburton, however, other Gilbert homeowners say they don't mind paying more in taxes.
"I don't have a problem with it," said Chris Torres. "I'd rather see them keep the schools up to par and pay the teachers and get them to stay."
In fact, this year's budget does reflect a 2% pay raise for teachers which parents say will ultimately make for better schools.
"I feel it's a benefit for our kids," said parent Frances Stinnett. "We have a very good district here and we need it."
The district's spokesperson called this year's 40% hike an anomaly and that homeowners shouldn't expect such a dramatic increase in the future.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:52 am on Wed, Oct 3, 2012.
Hey, hard-working Gilbert tax-payer.....quit-cha whinning.
Those Gilbert School District "movers-and-shakers" and teachers have to get money for a raise from somebody and that ................SOMEBODY IS YOU, BUDDY.
They sure are going to cut back on their "Caviar-and-Cruises" Pension Plan or their..."Cadillac Retirement Benefits, Hospitalization, Dental and Vision Plans..........NO ARE THEY..............[wink]
chatmandu002 posted at 11:10 am on Wed, Oct 3, 2012.
Everyone seems to believe that more money equals better education. This is not the case, more money only means more money. The public school and college districts are running wild with bloated administrations and support personnel. They are trying to offer everything from cultural to social diversification instead of teaching to the core subjects. This is driving up costs and personnel. Back to the basics, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.
DonMey posted at 12:37 pm on Wed, Oct 3, 2012.
His justification for a 40% increase is there wasn't one last year? That's still an annual increase of 20%, and during hard economic times no less. This is how government spending gets out of control.
Assuming a 250k house, that's an ADDITIONAL 5k in taxes. (The average gilbert house is 271k, and the median is 215k)
Teacher65 posted at 2:36 pm on Wed, Oct 3, 2012.
#A1 No, I am not bitter, senile, disenchanted, angry, hurt, regretful, jealous, or dumb. I just believe in educating people. A free public education for everyone is one of the greatest things about our country. Education is, after all, our best defense against tyranny. That said, it gets old listening to people who have not been inside a school since they were a student bash on education.
#1 Schools have to pay for many things that did not exist in the past. For example, information technology and educational technology are entire departments that did not exist 20 years ago. Capital outlay used to be for a chalkboard - now it is a smartboard, computer, document camera, and projector. Teachers are not crying for this stuff - the public is. They do it in the name of competitiveness.
Some schools still have a police officer. Another expense that was not there when I went to school.
The price of gas is 4-5 times what it was 20 years ago.
There are other examples too, but the bottom line is that funding for schools has not kept up with the changes in the educational environment. Finally, the state took over building schools, cut funding to the districts accordingly, then promptly failed to fund building and maintenance so that has also fallen back on the local districts.
#2 The assessed value of a house is not the same as the market value!!
#3 More time is spent now on "core subjects" than in the last 20 years. Look at the graduation requirement and you'll see that there is very little room for a student to take elective courses. Ask an elementary teacher when they last took a field trip - or did anything not directly related to a performance objective. Go learn about the 4 hr ELD requirement, the 90 minute reading block with another 30 minutes of intervention/enrichment, the common core math standards, state standards for ELA and you'll see that there really isn't all of this time for the social and cultural diversification you speak of.
#4 "They are trying to offer everything from cultural to social diversification." Show those to me in the course catalogue - I can't seem to find them.
loose stool posted at 4:29 pm on Wed, Oct 3, 2012.
They need that money to teach the children spanish.
WesternConnections posted at 4:40 pm on Wed, Oct 3, 2012.
Increasing taxes just before asking for a $17 Million override shows how tone-deaf this GPS administration is. One of the selling points for the override is that it's supposedly not a tax increase, your taxes will be the same as before. Add in the state-wide sales tax, that's also not a tax increase, it's a continuation of what you're paying now, so they say. So why in the world did GPS throw additional controversy into an already volatile environment by announcing the closing of Gilbert Jr High School so it can be repurposed for Gilbert Classical Academy right now, just before early voting begins? The answer: because that's how they do things in GPS, "My way or the highway." The video feed of the board meeting on October 2nd shows that the public comment section was merely window dressing; Allison said he and the Jr High administrators made the decision in June and July, but last night they couldn't account for how many students would be affected, how much it will cost in the immediate future, or how much this project will ultimately cost. This has to be done for "competitiveness" and because closing schools appears in the $100,000 Strategic Plan. How is this decision is in the best interests of ALL students in GPS, not just a select few? It looks like a strategy of divide and conquer, pitting one group of parents against another, and soaking the taxpayers while they're at it.
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