Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Your Tax Dollars at Work

So, do you really believe the District when it tells you “Mesa View Middle School didn't cost local taxpayers?” Hmmm. Where do YOUR taxes go? Arizona?

For your information, take a look at these numbers:

In addition to the approximately $31 million dollars of taxpayer money from the state,

- $1,000,000 transferred out of the CFD (Community Facilities District)* to the General Fund “for construction of Mesa View Middle School gymnasium.”
- $391,153 out of the CFD to pay for environmental consulting and traffic studies for MVMS.
- $15,000 out of the CFD to pay for inspection services for the road.
- $35,670 out of Maintenance and Operations to pay for asphalt for MVMS.
- $5,283 per month, plus benefits, out of the General Fund, for a full-time custodian and groundskeeper to take care of an empty school.

* For our readers who don’t know what a CFD is: It’s a “Special Tax” paid by local property owners to finance public improvements and services. In this case, the CFD was established by YCJUSD, and the local property owners have a “Special Tax Lien” placed against their property.

Source: YCJUSD School Board Minutes for 6/29/04, 9/13/05, 2/7/06, 3/21/06, 5/2/06, 8/8/06, 11/7/06


629 Days Without a Settlement!


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The article in the Sun about us and Rialto made a big deal out of how poor the Rialto district's financial decision-making has been. Shoot, their board ain't nuthin' compared to the Yucaipa Board. Yucaipa can mismanage at least as much money as Rialto does, and we're a much smaller district. It's really a sad day when so-called "bad" districts treat their staff with more respect and dignity than our so-called "good" district. It will be very interesting to see how many applicants Yucaipa has for all of the jobs left open when teachers who really aren't leaving actually DO leave.

Anonymous said...

My tax dollars at work! What absolute morons we have on the YCJUSD school board. OK, just Patty and Sue, we can't really blame the 3 J's for the new school screw up. That's OK though, let's blame two of the J's for the worst negotiations crisis in Yucaipa's history, or the special ed lawsuits, or the lowest morale in history for educators in this district.... HMMM there is so much blame to go around here.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the News-Mirror would like to cover the biggest waste of taxpayer money in Yucaipa history. Or does their protection of our district extend to misuse of public funds as well?

Anonymous said...

Kind of awkward to investigate the district that fed the News-Mirror staff such a nice lunch last week. Wouldn't want to bite that hand that feeds them now, would they? By the way, was that taxpayer money that funded their self-congratulatory luncheon, or did the board and district administrators cough up this time?

Anonymous said...

So maybe some of the folks who tend to believe the district's propaganda will stop by here and see this. Great research!

Anonymous said...

So what is the goal of the News-Mirror? Since they seem intent on not reporting "our side", what do they wish to accomplish by printing biased articles and venomous opinions. Blaming the teachers for a former student's suicide was over the top; and as I recall, it was administration that pushed the Distinguished School application so hard. Until the News-Mirror changes its ways, I will boycott all businesses that advertise there, and I will encourage my friends and family to do the same. This paper's failure to be objective is harming the livelihood of every teacher in the district, it is time for us to return the favor.

Anonymous said...

Too bad that this school isn't somewhere on Yucaipa Boulevard. If it were, we wouldn't have to suffer this board much longer. But, out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

Anonymous said...

Can you see Beaumont from Mesa View? Does Beaumont want a new school? Maybe its time for Calimesa to secede from our district.

Anonymous said...

In what way has the District spent money to make your classroom a better place for students in the last few years? I see numerous administrative budget items, but little or no money for classrooms and students. Where did all the money go? My classroom is still operating under budget cuts imposed several years ago during the budget crisis; why has this money not been reinstated? We seem to have enough money for admin.

Anonymous said...

Sure am glad I don't live in Yucaipa... BUt, I am a bit bitter about the profligate waste of state dollars. Where is the oversight? When LAUSD built the Belmont Learning Center, heads rolled, and as a percentage of total budget, Yucaipa's boondoggle is far worse than LAUSD's.

Anonymous said...

All this, and they still don't have a road. I have heard that the projected costs of the road will be between 4 and 8 million dollars, far beyond the original projected cost of 2 million. Spend a dollar to save a dime?