Editorial
New tax system is
needed for schools
Recent failures of school levies throughout the state ex
posed the inadequacy of the current system for funding
public education. The state needs to find a solution to the
problem.
Levies presented in 11 of 29 school elections held last
week rejected, and as a result, two school districts were
forced to close. One has since reopended, hut a
1,444-student district will remain closed until at least Dec. 4
when an emergency election will be held.
1985 is certainly not the first year the state has been
plagued by threats of school closures. But the situation has
erupted into a serious problem. The state has never faced as
many districts still in need of school levy approval this late
in the year, and the difficulty associated with getting levies
passed has intensified. In addition, the number of emergen
cy elections held so far this year has surpassed that of
previous years.
Also, prior to this school year, only six schools closed due
to a lack of funds. This year has already seen two closures
and may see three more if school levies are shot down at
emergency elections next month. Every time a school closes,
lessons are interrupted, children lose part of their education,
teachers and school staff members are laid off and many
families must arrange and pay for child care. It is an unplea
sant situation all around.
Some voters may be unhappy with the school systems
themselves, but as a whole, rejection of the levies appears to
be a rebellion against property taxes. Citizens are using their
voting power to obtain property tax relief and voice
dissatisfaction with the current tax level.
Thus divorcing school funding from property taxes and
generating money through an alternative tax system is the
key to a solution. The sales tax proposal was an attempt to
do just this, but it was strongly rejected by voters earlier this
year.
If a new tax system is not sought, only two viable alter
natives remain. The state could attempt to convince voters to
accept higher property taxes or cut school budgets. If
schools are already closing, it is clear that officials have
already tightened budgets as much as possible without
significantly damaging the quality of education. The quality
of education should remain a priority.
The state might be able to persuade voters to approve
property tax increases by convincing them that their money
is needed and is being used efficiently. This could be at
tempted through a wide-scale information campaign via the
mail or media, but it is not clear how much a campaign of
this sort would cost or how long its effectiveness would last.
As long as school funding is tied to property taxes, the state
will be forced to fight a constan* battle to persuade voters to
pass levies.
Instead, the state should seek an alternative tax struc
ture. It should start by determining why voters rejected the
sales tax. It appears that rejection of the proposal was linked
to suspicions that instead of realizing property and income
tax relief, the public would simply be burdened with an ad
ditional tax. Others feared that the state would be able to
raise taxes without voter approval. If these fears can be
allayed, voters might be willing to reconsider the proposal.
If it is found that taxpayers will reject both property tax
increases and a sales tax, the state should conduct a survey
to find out what taxpayers will support. It is clear that a new
system is desperately needed.
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Letters
Tax was unfair
This letter is in response to
the editorial “City takes
positive approach" (ODE, Nov.
8).
The defeat of the Eugene
Agenda tax should be seen as
more than a rejection of a
method of obtaining funds.
Even if you accept that these
kinds of projects should be done
by government, the procedure
used by the City Council to put
together the proposal is basical
ly flawed.
Putting together a "wish list"
of projects that individually
have majority support, without
taking into account the
cumulative cost of all the pro
jects (not to mention existing ci
ty services) cannot possibly
result in a package that meets
the true needs of the city. The
resulting budget will not reflect
the priorities even of the majori
ty, let alone the priorities of tax
payers with other ideas of how
to spend their hard-earned
money.
A county tax for airport ex
pansion will not solve the basic
problem. It would increase the
number of non-users who
would be forced to subsidize the
airport and would still allow
heavy users to avoid paying
their share of the costs. If users
don't have to pay the real cost,
they will naturally demand
more than they really need. On
the other hand, if county tax
payers see they will have to sub
sidize the operation, they may
stand in the way of an expan
sion that really would be
beneficial. The consequence of
making such decisions through
the political process will lie not
only an unfair tax. but also an
incorrect assessment of what
kind of expansion is really
worthwhile.
Joseph W. Dehn III
Chairman
Libertarians Against
New Taxes
No war is good
William Moore's letter "Ask
Inmates" (ODK 11-6) was very
thought provoking. What I'd
like to address, though, is not
the genocide inflicted on Hast
European and Asian people by
Marxist governments, but the
effects of war on soldiers.
No war in history hasn't
adversely affected people —
regardless of the justification for
the war. Unfortunately, the
liberal media has given people
the impression that only
veterans of Vietnam have been
subject to guilt — thus
cultivating the impression that
their emotional problems are
due to the "immorality" of our
involvement in Vietnam, an un
fair presentation to those men to
say the least.
Our generation was taught to
view World War II as a "good
war." Unlike Vietnam, we
weren't shown the horrors in
flicted on people unless it was
done by the Nazis or Japanese.
Sure, the anti-nukes barrage us
with pictures of atomic blast
victims. But rarely, if ever,
would they show us pictures of
German. Italian or Japanese
children burned alive by
phosphorous bombs.
Remember, more innocent peo
ple died in the Allied firebomb
ing of Oresten, Germany than in
both atomic blasts combined!
I knew one World War II pilot
who still suffered from the pain
of knowing he must have hit
schools, churches, houses, etc.
on various runs. And no soldier
couldn't feel pain at realizing
he killed men who were belov
ed fathers, brothers and
husbands of someone.
War is ugly no matter if it's
Vietnam. World War II or even
Afghanistan la>t us never forget
that!
Michael Cross
Senior. Political Science
Moral choices?
Mr. Moore. In your letter
(OUR. Nov. 12). you condemn
the United Way for imposing
destructive and immoral in
fluences upon the masses. You
also say that the United Way
organization opposes the im
position of one’s morality upon
others. And what is your solu
tion? Forcing your morality
upon us instead?
Please Mr. Moore, give me a
break. From what I understand,
there are at least 4.5 billion
other people on this Earth
beside yourself. That’s a fair
amount of human beings — all
of whom think, eat. defecate,
sleep and try to survive to see
tomorrow. Now you come along
and think you are the only one
among 4.5 billion other humans
who knows how all of us should
live. Wow.
You may think premarital
sex, homosexuality and abor
tion are wrong, but that is your
opinion. I am sure that with the
proper attitude and by taking
certain precautions, you can
successfully avoid these occur
rences in your life. If you are
happy in your beliefs, fine. But
in the words of Monty Python,
’’I can live my own life, in my
own way if 1 want to.’’ And so
can 4.5 billion others.
Matthew D. Beck
Telecommunications/Film
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