Two of our Governing Board Members are having budgets worked up that are based on lowering our Primary Property Tax Rate. This tax rate is set by the state, and is based on the monies they determine we need to run a school district of our size. It's a calculation - the state tells us the amount of tax dollars we should be collecting, and adjusts our tax rate accordingly.

If the district voluntarily cuts expenses however, and spends less than the states tells us we should, we are saying we want less money. Hence - our primary tax rate goes down. The amount they are proposing we refuse right now is $5.5M, which amounts to a monthly reduction of THREE DOLLARS for a median valued home in our district!

All of this is to achieve their political agenda of reducing taxes. A GPS student will be receiving less funding than a Mesa student or a Chandler student.

Our students, teachers and classrooms deserve the same funding. We, the property owners, fund the district and we value quality education. Refusing monies from the state is not an option that makes sense.