As a local REALTOR®, small business owner, parent, and taxpayer, I have many vantage points regarding the upcoming PUSD Override. With two students in Prescott Unified School District, I have experienced, firsthand, the level of effort required to educate our children. I implore the good people within the tax boundaries of PUSD to vote YES after considering my perspective for a moment. First, the increase will go directly to increasing teacher salaries. It will not go into a supplementary general fund to be picked apart by bureaucratic agendas. It just goes to our educators. Why is this important? There is a disparaging difference in our teacher’s take-home salary versus the average teacher salary in the State of Arizona. From a REALTOR®’s perspective, the Prescott housing market does not enable such a salary to support homeownership within our school district. Second, from a business perspective, an organization without a competitive compensation package is unable to attract talent. Many of you have large corporate experience in either your past or present careers. Without competitive compensation, an organization is neither able to reward the highly achieving nor dismiss the underachieving. Third, from a taxpayer perspective, the increase to a homeowner’s yearly tax bill is insignificant. People have argued that they would rather just give a donation. Well, we would appreciate if you donated through your taxes! For those voices who believe they are advocating for the small businessperson’s taxes…please check the math! PUSD2020override.com has a calculator that can be used to help you understand the tax increase to either your home or businesses. Our home’s property tax will see an increase of $0.10/day and our business $0.40/day.And for those of you concerned about market value (who isn’t?). Well, let’s look at what the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has to say. According to a 2013 Redfin study analyzed and reported by NAR, buyers were willing to spend $50/square foot more for homes in highly performing school districts. According to a NAR 2019 analysis, “Counties with public school enrollment gains experienced higher price appreciation in the last 7 years”. How do you get a highly performing school district attracting enrollment gains? You offer a competitive salary to reward the highly achieving educators who improve student test scores which attracts more students. A rising tide lifts all boats.Thank you for considering this letter. This vote is important, and I hope you will vote YES on the PUSD Override this November 3rd! Stacey Haggart, Prescott, AZ |
