School funding not under fire

Dear Editor:

Auden Schendler, who I know from Aspen hydro projects, wrote a letter criticizing Bronwyn Anglin for correctly noting that schools will lose no money under tax relief ballot issues 60, 61 and 101. Schendler is wrong; Anglin is right.

Current laws require the state to replace (backfill) any tax revenue impact, including that from the four-year phase-down of vehicle ownership taxes under Proposition 101. It is required by Amendment 23, passed in 2000, and the decades-old School Finance Act. It is also confirmed in the state voter guide about to be mailed.

Schendler says the state can’t replace it because it has “nonexistent revenue.” Give me a break – state spending this year is $19.6 billion, up 476 percent since 1984 and not going down in even one of those years. I’d like that much “nonexistent revenue” to spend. The yearly replacement cost is 0.6 percent of state spending, starting in 2012. Contrary to his claim, Amendment 60 deals with property tax only. The state collects NO property tax, so his statement that “60 would cut state revenue by 25 percent” is clearly false.

Schendler admits the issues confuse him. The issues are explained very simply at cotaxreforms.com. Vote YES on 60, 61 and 101.

Mike Mason

Cedaredge