The News Courier encourages letters to the editor. Submissions should be no more than 400 words and include name, address and telephone number for verification. Submissions that do not meet requirements are subject to editing. Writers are limited to one published letter every 30 days. Send letters to P.O. Box 670, Athens AL 35613 or email to adam@athensnews-courier.com.

Thanks for the help

Dear Editor:

On behalf of the faculty, staff, students and administration at Piney Chapel Elementary School, I would like to personally thank District Attorney Brian Jones and the director of Pre-Trial Diversion and Community Service Program, James E. Clem, for all of the hard work and dedication that was put into renovating Piney Chapel this summer.

With their help, and the help of Sheriff Mike Blakely and his office, classrooms were painted, floors were stripped and waxed and several projects were able to be finished at Piney Chapel for school to begin on time. Thank you for all the support you provide to our school and community.

Sincerely,

Bill Hardyman

Principal

Piney Chapel Elementary School

Where do you stand?

 Dear Editor:

I would like to ask all of our state representative candidates to consider providing an answer to the following before the election:

Name three concrete reasons why we should vote for you rather than for your opponents. We voters can recognize real differences, and would like a substantial answer. I’m sure we’re all for patriotism and family, but what concrete reasons should we vote for you to be our representative? What makes you different from all the others?

We voters of Limestone county are waiting for your responses. Thank you.

Sincerely,

John W. Davis

Athens

No endorsements

Dear Editor:

The past eight months have been extremely difficult for the Williams family. Kindhearted citizens from all over of Athens have gone above and beyond the call of duty in caring for us during our time of need. For all your efforts, we sincerely and wholeheartedly give thanks.

Daddy has always been in public service, and as a result was subject to conjecture, scrutiny and criticism. We as his family accepted all of this as baggage that came along with Daddy doing what he loved and, for the most part, kept our opinions to ourselves.

Now that Daddy’s community service has ended, it is the desire of our family to take an extended break from the political spotlight and to be insulated from the contention surrounding the present political environment of Athens and Limestone County. Lately we have heard of people claiming Dan Williams supported the establishment of a new property tax for Athens City Schools. We have also heard of people claiming Dan Williams opposed the establishment of a new property tax for Athens City Schools.

I can unequivocally state that he was most concerned with the ability of citizens to vote on the tax increase rather than the actual outcome of the vote. I can also unequivocally state that we will not publicly or privately support any candidate seeking the seat he vacated when leukemia took him from us.

We would greatly appreciate everyone honoring Daddy and his work by educating yourself on the issues at hand, voting what you feel is correct and allowing us all the time we need to grieve our great loss.

Sincerely,

Daniel C. Williams

Huntsville

Vote ‘no’ on Tuesday

Dear Editor:

Fellow citizens: If you can see through all the wild exaggerations and (I believe) outright lies by those trying to force their “$75,000,000 School Tax Increase” on you, then your opposition is worthless if you do not actually go to the polls and vote “no.”

So get out of your chair, get in your car and go to the polls on Tuesday and let your sensible voice be heard loud and clear. Vote “no”!

Sincerely,

Joseph (Jay) McCook

Athens

Return on investment

Dear Editor:

Decisions need to be based on facts. This is especially true with respect to the upcoming vote on Athens schools. This vote is not about the president’s performance, the mayor’s performance or even the new Athens City School Central Office. All three topics are worth debating, but should not be used to cloud the decision over whether we need a new school or not. This vote is about the age and condition of Athens schools and the potential overcrowding.

The middle school is 64 years old, Athens Elementary is 58 years old and Julian Newman is 50 years old. All have the potential to be overcrowded by 2020. The plan has a defined scope and timeline and the tax will only exist to fund the school improvements. For the Athens citizens with school age children (of which I am one) or grandchildren, the question is not if but when we should build a new school.

The threat that this new tax will be bad for business has been debunked by the Limestone County Economic Development Association and the Chamber of Commerce approving the plan. Local business leaders are clearly for it and our taxes will still be lower than Madison and Huntsville.

There are citizens that won’t directly benefit from a new school for their children or grandchildren. However, the city will benefit in the long run. My wife and most of her friends grew up going to Athens public schools. They received excellent educations here thanks to the investment in education and went off to various colleges to receive degrees and started careers in other cities. They have subsequently returned to Athens and are enriching this community on a daily basis. This is a clear return on investment for the taxpayers. The money and effort put into their public education is being paid back on a daily basis in money and volunteer work.

A more extreme example is the story of Bill Gates. Mr. Gates’ school in Seattle had a computer and allowed their students access to it. Because they invested in facilities, he was able to learn about computers and see their potential before others were. This investment paid off well for that school, the area in general and our country as a whole. Please vote on August 25th and please consider the return on investment Athens can receive.

Sincerely,

Quinn Leonard

Athens

No new taxes

Dear Editor:

I hope to show you how raising city property tax for schools, and the giving of tax money to big corporations in the form of economic development tie together, and why the reasoning behind both doesn’t add up.

When questioned why we need the property tax increase, its proponents first give the emotional response it’s for the children. We must remember that property tax is a percentage, percentages keep up with inflation. In other words, schools have been fine in the past, why not now?

So to justify the tax, they change the argument to keeping up with the Jones’ — Madison and Huntsville. We’ve all heard we need new schools or people will move to Madison and Huntsville. Remember the sales tax increase forced upon us by a lame duck city council a few years ago? It was to be used to create a forward-looking community so people would move here.

What about economic development? The emotional argument is we need to create jobs for our children so they don’t have to move away. At first it sounds good, but when you look at the total amount of enticement money, it is so large that in order to justify the money spent, we not only need to create jobs for locals, we have to bring people in from out of town to help pay off our investment.

It is bad enough to take our tax dollars and give them to big corporations, but then our government turns around and wants to raise our taxes to pay for it. This is a vicious cycle. Whether they want us to raise sales tax or property tax, the reasons are the same. Government will bring people and prosperity. The only thing they forget to mention is that higher taxes are not prosperity, but rather an excuse to grow government.

If people move here, it will widen our tax base, thereby paying for larger schools, etc. That is prosperity and good, but if we are forced to raise taxes to move people here, that is not good.

Let me add that many people want to move here because we are different from the big city. We should focus on this instead of becoming something we aren’t. Athens is a small Southern town that welcomes everyone, but please don’t make us pay higher taxes to move people here. Please vote “no” to more taxes.

Sincerely,

Gail Clanton

Athens

Look at the numbers

Dear Editor:

I read with interest about Huntsville continuing to move into Limestone County in the July 26 paper. What was more interesting was the fact that at the center of the move is a new school. We can, and will, argue the merits of the financing of that new school, whether it is via TIF or bonds issued, but the point being, Huntsville schools is maxed out in debt.

Currently, Limestone County receives approximately $16,000,000 each year from the 2-cent sales tax. Of that $16,000,000, businesses in Athens are responsible for around $9,000,000 of those receipts. That is 60 percent of the receipts. Now the argument is that many of the residents outside of the city limits do business in those businesses, and you would be correct in that argument, but of the $9,000,000, the county schools gets around $6,700,00 (75 percent).

Take a look at the receipts from the value of each mil generated within the city limits. The value of each mil to the county is about $700,000. Of that, the value of a mil in the city is about $250,000, 36 percent. For that 36 percent, the city gets nothing in return. No streets paved, no additional fire protection, no police protection (and yes, the city additionally pays for any detainees in the county jail). The exception to that being that 75 percent 10-mil school tax accessed to the city ($2,500,000 x 75%=$1,8785,000) goes to the county schools

As a friend told me years ago, “A rising tide floats all boats.” So it looks to me, as the city of Athens goes, so goes the county.

It pays to investment in the city, not only for the city, but also in many cases, much more so for the county.

Vote “yes” for progress, strength and vitalization of neighborhoods.

Sincerely,

Jack McDaniel

Athens

Old doesn’t mean bad

Dear Editor:

I’m hearing that children can’t learn in old buildings. Maybe they’re not fancy, maybe they’re patched up, but shame on us if they’re not clean.

How could we ever learn in dual-purpose rooms, or in schools with gravel parking lots? That was the norm at one time, in fact not that long ago. You know what? Some of these kids have to go home and do homework in houses like that. Shocker of shockers, lots of kids have to.

Oh no, did you say you think that maybe they can’t learn in an old house? I know, let’s raise the taxes and buy them a new house, then they will learn better. What happens if after they get out of school they get a job in a place that is old? What if they can’t learn to do their job in this old environment?

Oh no, the world will fall apart because everything isn’t new. What are we teaching our children anyway? You have to have it new, and you have to have it now? Don’t bother working your way through college, because you deserve it now. It explains why we have a generation of college debts that Obama wants to pay off; you guessed it, with our tax dollars.

Everyone today needs a new house, new car, new phone. You know what? Sometimes old is fine. Sometimes old teaches children what they will never learn with the new. I am not buying it. I am asking you to vote “no” to raising taxes because new does not mean better. In this case more money does not mean a smarter education.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Hall

Tanner

Streets, not schools

Dear Editor:

Come now. During these times of so many uncertainties, the call for new taxes within such short period of time seems quite hasty. There are uncertainties of how the new charter school program works out. Public money from public schools could be a game-changer. How will the new schools from Huntsville city and Madison city affect county taxes?

Sometime soon we must address the public roadways. The city streets are a public nuisance and taxpayers should always have good streets and safe streets. Supporting commerce is always good, but not helping the poor — or causing hardship on anyone — should never happen. Let’s don’t get so commercial that we don’t see pain we place on others.

All in all, maybe we should wait and get a total view of what we have spent past revenue on. Move a little slower; this progressive tax will increase every time your property is appraised.

Sincerely,

Ivory Joe Scales

Athens

Demographics don’t lie

Dear Editor:

The city schools superintendent has publicly stated at a student’s parents meeting, “if you’re against the property tax, don’t tell anyone.” This is a violation of the constitutional right of free speech and not exactly ethical conduct.

Regarding growth, emphasis on Athens’ growth is not proven by its growth in recent years. Athens’ population has only grown 12 percent since 2010. During this same period, Madison-annexed portions of Limestone County have grown 45 percent and the Huntsville-annexed portion has grown 25 percent. This is affected by proximity to places of employment, less sales taxes and many more new commercial businesses.

The proposed new school locations are junior high at the old high school, on the west edge of I-65, which is not close to the majority of the student population, and new high school near the new Board of Education office, again on the west side of I-65 and north end of Highway 31. Instead of demolishing Athens elementary and junior high schools, let’s repair them with new roofs and increase maintenance work. New schools should be relocated to encompass not just current needs, but those realistically estimated for 20 years from now. There are no new schools proposed east of I-65 or on the southeast side of Athens where all the growth is occurring.

Where is the demographic map of all the current student’s addresses: residences, apartments, mobile homes? It would show where the current need exists and overlaid with expected residential growth would better define where to locate schools. Obviously, we are not prepared, at this point, to make such a critical $74,000,000 decision based upon currently available demographics. Why has the school board spent 50 percent more for its central administrative office facilities then is being spent for a new city hall?

Everyone must understand that the 30 percent property tax increase will also increase all license plate fees for all motorized vehicles including autos, trucks, RVs, motorcycles and also tax computers and machinery used for business. We have city leaders who can’t comprehend financial management related to what should be affordable for the current citizens and Athens economy.

City leaders must stop playing politics and making grandiose plans that don’t match up with reality. The proposed tax increase ballot says the funds can also be used for refinancing. What refinancing? Is this some hidden cost citizens didn’t know about? Vote “no” on the Aug. 25 30 percent property tax increase.

Sincerely,

Quentin D. Anderson

Athens