Governing through the will of the people is what all local elected officials believe in, right? Is that why The Marysville City Council and Marysville School Board recently held a joint meeting for the first time in the city’s more than 200-year history or was it to control the narrative released to the voters?
The way the meeting unfolded was akin to a trial with each side trying to gain leverage by laying out their case in front of the public with a moderator facilitating the discussion. Many of the differences brought forward at the meeting came to light after the defeat in May of a school levy. We think the differences boiled down to the school’s pulling out of a joint economic development agreement with the city after the levy loss because it wanted additional money from TIF (tax incremental financing) projects. Keep in mind, before the vote, TIF money didn’t amount to enough to keep the schools off the ballot.
Although the move was seen as a way to point the finger at the city, we agreed with it because we still fail to see how new developments in Marysville have paid for themselves. Instead we think many new projects over the years have added to the burden the taxpayers already shoulder with higher city fees and property tax bills.
With that said, we don’t think the city had anything to do with the levy defeat. The voters clearly said no to the new money request, so much so that they told us they voted against the new tax because they don’t understand why they are expected to make a sacrifice from their $40 or $50k annual salary to pay teachers making upwards of $100k and a superintendent making $187k plus a 13.5% annuity. Voters clearly want school employees to walk back the way of the tax payers.
If there is any doubt about where the voters stand, we think city council member and a former Marysville teacher, Deb Groat, said it best – go door to door and talk to them. We offered to sit down with the school leaders the day after the levy defeat and provide insight on what we learned, but still haven’t heard from them.
Adding to the turmoil between the two entities was the possibility that the city might put an income tax proposal on the ballot in November for a $50M future pool/trail project. During a recent city work session that idea was brought up by City Manager Terry Emery who said that a .2% income tax in-crease could fund it, however days later Emery said the city had no plans to ask for such an increase in November which makes us wonder why the idea was suggested to begin with. If it was for leverage, we don’t understand because the city holds all the cards on future abatements and TIF funds.
Overall, voters are trying to find out where the truth lies so they can make an informed decision. Many told us they questioned the need for more school money when all day kindergarten was not cut after officials said they would end the program if the levy didn’t pass. Voters also mentioned past expenditures totaling $12.5M on two football stadiums that used operating funds.
Supt. Diane Allen made things worse when she said superintendent 101 told her it might not be a good idea to put the levy on the November ballot when board members are up for re-election. It came off like she was trying to help the board president’s ability to get re-elected. Voters felt that the timing of a new levy should be solely based on the need to educate the children of the district.
Anyway, as we reflect on this situation, we underline the words of Council President Henk Berbee – in order to make the best decision for the taxpayers, those in charge need to take personal feelings and emotion out of the equation.
Readers turn to us because the Journal-Tribune is the only news entity that extensively covers both city and school issues on a regular basis and we still have a lot of questions. Can you imagine how many questions voters also have?