I write this in response to an article by Mr. Mark Schmitz, Superintendent, Staples Motley Schools, in your July 30 edition of Staples World.

First I will tell you as the reader, that any statistical information in this letter was collected from a site called city-data.com and is from the year 2007.

I would like to know just how much more of our money that the county, city, and school system thinks that they can squeeze out of our property tax base. We are currently witnessing the construction of an ill timed at best new city hall on the heels of the completion of our new city police headquarters, neither of which were as urgent a need as our city officials would like you to believe.

During the last fiscal year, we have seen an inordinate across the board increase in our county and city portions of our property taxes. Here are a few little facts about our city tax base.

As of the year 2007, the property tax rate for the City of Staples was 1.4 percent far above the state average of 1.1 percent, and the highest of any city in the state with a population from 2,800 to 3,400 (within 300 people above or below ours).

The average single family dwelling was valued at $88,700, compared to the state average of $213,600, and the closest I could find to our property values, again within 300 people one way or the other. . . nearly $20,000 higher than values in the City of Staples. Makes me wonder aloud why our city officials are on this insane spending spree.

I know what you are thinking. . . "The county and city just reassessed my property, it's now worth much more than in 2007."

Well, you have to ask yourself, according to whom? If you have seen a recent influx in home sales and construction, please by all means let me know. Otherwise I will assume it is an artificial inflation. If the city wants to buy my house for the assessed value, write me a check.

Now, couple the high tax rate with the low property values, and the resulting lack of a tax base, then let's throw in our average income. The average household income in the City of Staples is $29,369, the state average $55,802. The percentage of residents with an income below poverty level in Staples is 20.3 percent. Yes, one in every five, and nearly three times the states percentage of 7.9 percent.

The number of residents with an income less than half of the poverty level in Staples 5.3 percent, the state 3.2 percent.So, not only do we not have the property values for an adequate tax base, but also do not have the income to support any tax increase, much less an increase for unneeded building projects, such as a new police headquarters and a new city hall.

While I sympathize with the school's need for upkeep on its buildings, there are many residents, who need to do upkeep on their property also. Some, like a few of my neighbors, have had no choice but to put money that they may or may not have into their houses . . . thank you, Staples "beautification." I am sure that they have already been assessed on those improvements.

I just simply do not believe that we as a city population can afford any additional increases in our property taxes. This levy simply cannot be allowed to pass. Through no fault of the school, its teachers or its board members, the funds our school gets are not going where needed. Unfunded federal and state mandates and misguided legislation like the "No Child Left Behind" act have shifted the funds to programs and staffing requirements that are irresponsible at best. Basically too much of the money is going to too few of the students.

Also, until the per student funding in rural Minnesota equals the per student funding in the Metro Area, I do not believe it wise for us to waste any more of our tax money on state mandates, no matter how well intended. Presently the formula used to distribute funding is weighted so that schools with a larger enrollment receive higher per student funding based on the assumption that it costs more to educate in a larger school. Studies show that this is not only false, but also exactly the opposite. It costs much more per student to educate in a smaller school system.

I am not saying that our school buildings are not in need of repair, and I do not wish to make it sound as though a levy is ill intended, just poorly timed, and at the moment, not feasible given the state of our economy, especially our local economy. There is much that needs to be fixed in our schools, not just the buildings, and while administrators, and teachers are doing the absolute best that they can, we cannot just throw more money at the problem.

Until the state and federal governments allow our elected board members, and school officials to run our school and use the funding as they see fit, and equalize the funding to do so, I cannot support any more local tax money going to our school. So please show up and vote no on the proposed levy on Sept. 8.
Mike Isenberg
Staples, Minn.