5 Reasons to Vote YES 4 Property Values!

Discussions on taxes, mill rates and referendums always drive concerns homeowners have about their property taxes.  While no one wants to pay any more taxes than necessary, cutting off financial support to update the schools to save a few hundred dollars a year is shortsighted.  Think long term about how investing in the schools actually supports property values throughout the school district.

• School Districts are Important to Home Buyers

Ask any realtor.  One of the first things people mention when they’re looking for a home is “What are the schools like?”   Mayville, with a strong history of supporting education, has an above average school district and is thought of as desirable.  This needs to continue.  Keeping our facilities in good condition and updating learning spaces to today’s standards adds value to our school district.

• Studies Support a Correlation Between Excellent Schools and Property Values

 The common sense proposition that good schools increase property values is supported by the studies.  A 2013 Duke University review of research into the question found a strong correlation between school performance and property values.  The author concluded “better quality schools increase the real estate value of houses in their area.”   https://sites.duke.edu/urbaneconomics/?p=712

• Older Residents Need People to Want to Buy Their Homes

While it’s understandable that people who are on a fixed income are reluctant to vote for any tax increase whatsoever, at some point they will need to sell their houses.   If we don’t make Mayville attractive for younger families, who will buy them?  If we don’t take care of our schools, who will want to send their kids here?  If our factories phase production to other areas over time because they cannot find qualified associates, who will stay?  If people do not stay, what supporting businesses will fill our downtown business facilities?  Who will want to live in Mayville without the supporting businesses that we have?  What will our tax base look like then?

• This Referendum Puts Taxes Essentially Where They Were Two Years Ago

It really isn’t a tax increase anyway; passing the referendum sets the overall mill rate at the level of support Mayville typically made for it schools.   Two years ago the combined mill rate was $10.57.  If passed the projection for ’17-18 is $10.89, then it goes down to $10.51 and $10.17 in the next two school years.  It is extremely rare to carry no referendum debt like Mayville does now.   If nothing is done to improve education to make the connection with industry and our industry moves elsewhere, what will our tax base look like?  If people and businesses move out of the community over time, our tax base will shrink, and we will all pay much more than the value driven by this referendum.

• The Tax Burden is Much Cheaper than a New High School

The current plan takes the solid structure of the existing High School and basically remodels the large majority of the school to be a modern learning environment.   Using what we have is a great bang for our buck.  Building a new High School would cost at least double.  We cannot afford a new school.  Further, we cannot afford to do this in small steps as it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars to tear into the same areas repeatedly.  This referendum is the most efficient way to improve our learning spaces, update our infrastructure, and connect our industry with our education system to benefit the entire community, and in turn, our tax burden over the long term.

All citizens must really think about the long term before voting on this referendum.  While saving a few hundred dollars in the short term is appealing, a 5% or 10% increase in property values would more than cover that for most homeowners.  Failure to pass this referendum would be detrimental to this community.  Now is the time.  Vote YES 4 Property Values on April 4^th!