Editor,
Do not support the Ridgefield School District bond proposals 10 and 11 as it will affect the affordability of Ridgefield.
Isn’t enough that the median house in Clark County is $627,000 and in Ridgefield it’s $800,000. Now Ridgefield School District wants us to pay for outrageously designed schools that will house facilities for community use, like the RORC, and make Ridgefield have the most expensive taxing for school districts in our area?
I know with my car insurance going up 25%, my property tax assessment going up 8% to 25% a year and now possible bonds that will make Ridgefield have the highest price per $1,000 assessed value that I won’t be able to afford to stay in the place I call home.
We are being taxed out of the area. Remember, there will be a replacement levy in 2025, which will increase that rate even higher. In the slides presentation for the bonds and vision, the district wants to build four more buildings after these pass. Don’t forget other “asks” from other organizations that will continue to increase your taxes.
Ridgefield needs to be realistic and ask for needs not wants. I do not trust, nor do I believe, the district and the story they tell, as their numbers don’t jibe. Yes, they may need more capacity at the elementary level but not the elaborate “wants” they are asking for.
I also question the fact that their major donors to the “Citizens for Ridgefield Schools” are the contractors and architects that will be doing the work if they pass. Seems like a conflict of interest.
I am a no for the bonds as I know this is just the beginning, and we will be paying on this for 20-plus years, along with more bonds, more levies and more burden passed onto the working class. If I’m being asked to settle for less (for my hard-earned money), I think the district can settle for less and come up with a realistic plan with a modest school that fixes the needs.
Jamie Keiser
Ridgefield
