7 REASONS TO AX THE TAX
Posted: Saturday, September 8th, 2012 at 11:07 pm
By: Tea Party
The San Antonio Tea Party has gone on record opposing the proposed city tax increase and urges all patriots to vote NO on November 6th. To help citizens understand the many and varied reasons for this opposition, read seven of the most powerful arguments below and feel free to reproduce and circulate our informative PRE-K FLYER.
*TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION* The public is being asked to sign a blank check to be managed and spent by an UNELECTED BOARD. The citizens will actually be voting to increase taxes which will be administered by a newly formed Municipal Corporation, who will then have wide latitude to change, enhance, alter, develop new programs or what they want without going back to the council or voters for approval. There is nothing in the ordinance that requires the corporation to implement the ideas presented to either council or the public.
*DOUBLE TAXATION * *DUPLICATION OF SERVICES* Over 50% of your property taxes, 56% TX general funds, plus federal taxes already go to education. This program merely shifts children from the school district’s already fully funded program to our new more expensive program to serve only 700 students in year one to 3700 students/yr by year eight, in 4 centralized centers, one each in north, south, east, and west San Antonio.
*UTILIZING THE LAST 1/8-CENT IN OUR LOCAL SALES TAX* Will maximize the legislatively restricted total sales tax. In a city with a tight budget, rising costs, should PRE-K trump other important basic city needs, especially when it is not the city’s primary responsibility or area of expertise and already funded via ISD’s?
*UNKNOWN DETAILS* The logistics of transportation, curriculum, location of centers, the capital needed to buy, build, or lease; etc. No marketing plan to enroll the “underserved” population. It does not address the issue of qualified children whose parents are not taking advantage of current programs.
*PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT CRITICAL TO HEALTHY CHILD DEVELOPMENT* Research has found that a half-day teaching program is more effective in improving the child’s retention of learning skills. The City plans this Pre-K full-day program ignoring the costs and studies or how parents play a crucial role in the lives and development of their 4-year-olds.
*COSTS* The revenue from the tax is inadequate to fund the program. No funds for 4 centralized centers.
| Program teacher salary = $64,500 | Beginning teacher SAISD = $43,375 |
| Program cost per child over $11,000 | Average for ISD’s less than $9000 |
Over the last decade, Texas educational spending has increased 95%, five times faster than the increases in enrollment or the rate of inflation. Economists warn of inflation in 2013.
*INADEQUATELY VETTED BY CITY COUNCIL* Only 7 hours of discussion occurred at Council with no input from citizens. Unanswered questions on logistics, current state of Pre-K in San Antonio or how we benchmark who is failing to provide quality Pre-K in SA and why. Texas Early Learning Council is wrapping up a 3-year study on improving Pre-K in the state of Texas. It would be more prudent to at least see their recommendations before we go it alone vs. working with the State for a long-term solution for early education.
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well put, big improvement in current updates, thanks
I’d say don’t sweat it. Let it appear on the ballot, this will never pass the scrutiny of Attorney General Abbott, the state legislature, or the Texas Supreme Court. Class envy politics in Texas have a way of coming around and biting one in the arse.
Lets face it, our brillint city leaders are learning from Obama!!!
Pre-K for SA
Proven Failure
we can’t afford!!
View my youtube video pass it along to friends and family in the San Antonio area. Post it on facebook.
We must not lose this one.
http://youtu.be/2GNvtbHmOIM
Thanks,
Matt
If you have a business which caters to the public, please put the flyers in your waiting room, enough so anyone knows they can take one or a few, enlarge it and put on window. anywhere that it might get someone’s attention. I put one in the deposit thing at the drive thru at the bank, as a suggestion.
For me and my family, the MOST frightening reason to vote against this program is Reason #1-voting FOR surrendering future decisions to a newly formed Municipal Corporation’ UNECLECTED board. This alone warrants a “NO” vote!
Haven’t we learned enough about how these un-elected Boards operate? Without them being directly responsible to us, the voters, they are given the latitude to do whatever they deem “necessary” with OUR hard-earned tax dollars. Recently, we’ve had several experiences with them pushing through their agendas on projects that were voted DOWN multiple times by the Taxpayers….think toll roads, 281/Loop 410 debacle, street car rail lines.
The ONLY power tax-payers have on how much & the spedning of our hard-earned monies is the ballot box. It forces these politicians along with their “board buddies” back to the voting booth for OUR permission for any substantial change of an project approved by a ballot election.
Our Founders constructed the approval process by the PEOPLE to be intentionally cumbersome. This was an effort to slow down “progress” to allow for deliberative discussions BUT mainly to DETER this type of “streamlining” give-away of the “People’s Power to the Purse”! Many now call them “Obstructionists”. I choose to LOUDLY state, “They were RIGHT!”
Just think, where would we be today had we kept more in line with their original principles? Yes, we would have LESS government/”freebies” but a lot LESS DEBT and a lot MORE FREEDOM!
We will VOTE NO on NOV. 6th! Hope others will, too!
Just another way to take the children from there parents, who just wants to get rid of them, do not want to train feed or any family respondabilty, thats what castro is banking on and this is not about those who can speak english, it is about more services to those who do not pay tax and reap the harvest of the working class, I wonder if the mayor sends his kids to a public school? I for one am feed up for paying for every one who plans never to work or support our city, I can not understand why schools have to be open in the summer time to feed kids, keep a paid staff & utitiles going, be cheaper to give them a Mc Donald meal ticket. but it is never about cost saving. how else can they TAKE more from us???
The effectiveness of your campaign would be greatly increased if you made the link to your flyer figure more prominently in the text of your statement. Please send the link to the flyer to my attention and I would be happy to distribute copies of the flyer.
J. Dale Himebaugh
A great suggestion. A link has been emailed to the address you provided. Thank you!
If you will send me your address I will send the file.
cwb@satx.rr.com
or call 210-315-2027
This reply will not accept a link. Maybe you can copy this one.
http://www.sanantonioteaparty.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Pre-K-flyer2.pdf
this will be a voluntary program just like the federal one is. since it won’t be mandated that they go, there will be no more attandance than the federal one gets because their parents won’t get them up and ready to go. making it a full day turns it into a babysitting operation since 4-yr-olds have short attention spans. and quess whose 2-yr-old child will be eligible for it in 2 years which is when they expect it to be up and running. julian castro’s son, that who! write letters or emails to h.e.b. and the other places that are supporting it as well as the express-news. blog about it on every site where you see castro mentioned. it doesn’t have to be about the tax, just anything tied to him. talk to people standing in line at the grocery store, post office, pharmacy, doctor’s office waiting room. talk loudly enough that others can hear you.
We are asking everyone to please print out the flyer and pass out to your friends, family and neighbors. Email to everyone on your contacts list. Take the flyers with you any time you will be around a group of people, pass out, and ask the people you give them to, to also make copies to pass out as well as send to their contacts. We need to educate each other and the general public.
Next month is Neighborhood Night Out. Please make sure you take copies with you to your neighborhood party. Anyway you can think of to get the flyers out will help our cause.
Go to http://www.CarltonSoules.org for Q & A of City Council “B” session, the budget and Soules comments .
Hopefully, those links will soon be on this website.
The solution to education is good parenting and a loving, stable home life, not more money. Being poor does not make one stupid.
Sorry, but I don’t think this is going to pass the mustard test. If people vote on it here in San Antonio, okay. If it passes, I think it will be brought before the legislature, the governor, and the Texas Supreme Court. In my opinion, it will be struck down by the TSC. Sure, we have to inform people, of which I will contribute to that effort, BUT, it won’t get off the ground after that! Just my opinion.