The views of this letter to the editor do not necessarily reflect those of the LPJ publishing staff.
Dear Editor,
I am writing to support the Lincoln Parish School Board’s ballot initiative to consolidate five separate one-half cent (0.50%) sales taxes into one two-point five percent (2.50%) sales tax on June 27.
Public education has changed since the first 0.50% sales tax was passed in 1967. The needs of children have certainly changed, and what the public now asks of their schools is much more involved, and expensive.
In my professional career, I have dealt with school boards across Louisiana, and we are truly blessed with an administration and faculty that is laser-focused on preparing our children for a productive life in society. Being friends with many teachers has shown me just how challenging the education of our children is, and that community support is critical. We cannot thank them enough for their efforts, and we need to make sure that they do not have to worry about whether they are going to be compensated fairly.
In reviewing our School Board’s audited financials, I found that while the School Board collects a healthy amount of sales tax, it still only covers less than 40% of the total need for salaries and benefits. We need to unlock all the sales tax collections to be available to the School Board for salaries and benefits.
We also need to give the school administration, and the School Board, the ability to use all possible resources to operate our school system. For example, if there was a fire at Ruston High, the School Board would be prohibited from using the currently designated sales taxes for repairs. We need to give our administration and School Board members the flexibility to meet temporary needs while holding them accountable for the long-term health of our education system.
Lincoln Parish continues to be a light for our State in both economic growth and education.
My hope is that we will give our School Board, our teachers and our children what they need to succeed. Consolidating the Sales Tax is a great way to show our support.
Sincerely,
Lucius D. McGehee, Jr.
