LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Citizens need to ask questions about new school taxes

By: Dear Editor, | SCNow
Published: November 11, 2009

I do not think that Florence School District 1 Board of Trustees and Superintendent Larry Jackson remember Nov. 6, 2007. The taxpaying citizens of Florence County voted “No” to raising property taxes.

Apparently, they don’t understand what “No” means. We just received our property tax bill for year ending Dec. 31, 2009. Apparently, the District One Board of Trustees raised our property taxes to the maximum it could raise them without a revote from taxpaying citizens. This equates to a $300 raise in taxes on our property. We are retired citizens; between the two of us, we worked 80 years. All of our friends are retirees and most all are living on limited incomes. Some have lost their jobs and cannot afford this “behind our backs” property tax increase.

There is nothing to the fact that some of our schools are 40 to 50 years old. I was educated in a Florence school that was nearly 100 years old. I received a great education. In reference to Attorney Ed Love’s letter to the editor on Oct. 21, 2009, regarding his praise for School District 1 Board of Trustees (Blue Ribbon Panel) and Superintendent Jackson, I would like to understand how the district was “forced” to pay $400,000 to repair a ceiling? Was the ceiling made out of gold? Someone needs to check on this bid because it is unbelievable! Also, homes in this county worth $100,000 are few and far between. It is amazing that Love states that if this property tax increase wasn’t passed by the Board of Trustees, the citizens of Florence County would be paying $100,000,000 in interest. Somebody needs to explain what $100,000,000 interest would be paid on?

This new property tax needs to specify which school these taxes will be used to build. Since the district says the county needs three new schools, or is it four new schools, or how many new schools?

Are our property taxes going to be raised each time a new school will be built? Remember, it’s not the facility you learn in, it’s what is taught and what a child learns.

These new property taxes are not nominal. This is a horrible time economically to raise taxes for any reason. I am worried about senior citizens who are no longer able to keep their homes because taxes keep being raised. I am worried for couples with children who can’t afford their mortgages because they have lost jobs. Therefore, they have no home to pay these taxes on. Then, they become renters and pay no property taxes.

Has anyone been inside the School District One building located at 319 S. Dargan St.? It has a 42” flat screen Samsung TV mounted on the wall at the end of a hallway by their Human Resources office. I wonder if the taxpayers of Florence County paid for this TV and cable?

Rae Fowler
Florence