Why I am voting yes on Article 3

To the Editor:

Sunapee is blessed with an excellent school system, one that is rated one of the best in the state, one that meets the needs of our pre-K-12 population and one that lets our young people stay in town.

Yes, I know that my taxes will go up if we approve Article 3 but they will not go up anywhere near the reduction in home value if we become a pre-K-8 system. In talking with realtors and people who do property assessment for a living they feel that the value of our Pre-K-12 system is worth 10-15 percent on the sale price of a home in Sunapee.

As an example, if we approve Article 3 the added taxes on a $300,000 dollar assessed value home would be about $600 dollars a year times 15 years for a tax increase of $9,000 over the 15-year period against a home value deduction of $30,000 to $45,000 on the selling price in year one of the pre-K-8 system.

Now let’s look at Article 8, which offers as a suggestion that we tuition our 9-12th grade students to other school districts, assuming that the other districts are willing to accept them.

The net cost to tuition (that is the cost of tuition minus what we would save in a reduced teacher needed scenario) is, according to our school superintendent, $2 million a year.

That means that forever Sunapee will be paying at least $2 million a year to tuition our students to schools where we as taxpayers in Sunapee will have no say in how they are educated, in the quality of that education or other factors that we as parents in Sunapee feel are important.

Voting No on Article 3 is a very short minded solution to a long-term issue, educating our students. Voting yes on Article 3 provides a long term opportunity to keep our students in Sunapee, to provide them with the quality of education that the community takes pride in and over time will save the residents of Sunapee money. I am voting yes on Article 3.

Stephen McGrath

Parent of Corey McGrath SMHS 2006