/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
Navajo County School Superintendent Jalyn Gerlich did a presentation to the Snowflake Unified School District Governing Board at the April 11 meeting regarding the impacts of Proposition 421, the Jail District Tax, that will be put before the voters on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
Gerlich emphatically stated, “I am here only to educate, there is no ask with this. The mission is to inform the public regarding the Jail District Tax subject.”
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
In 2008, the recession hit the county hard as well as school districts causing 16 percent of the county jobs to be cut as well as significant cuts in capital replacement. Now with the upcoming closure of the Cholla Power Plant, the increase in state retirement and health care costs, as well as the cost shifts by the state, the county is facing a deficit of approximately $2.5 million per year.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
Gerlich shared how this has impacted her department. “It is a fact that since October my office has been down 25 percent in the number of staff that work. We had five and are now down to four. We are making it, but it is not always pretty.”
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
“There is a maximum that the county can do on property tax,” continued Gerlich. “But it doesn’t add up to $2.5 million. Property tax is not a good route to go because of the limits of increase.”
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
The jail district tax is a one-third cent sales tax that is used by eight other counties in Arizona, including Maricopa, to fund the jail system.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
As Gerlich noted, “With the sales tax everyone contributes. This will not raise property taxes and it will not be used to build a new jail. This is not a revenue gaining system; it is a revenue balancing system to offset the jail funds so that the money normally used to fund the jail can trickle out to the other departments.”
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
Vice Chairman Cory Johnson asked, “If this proposition passes, will the towns and cities still have to pay the jail fees?”
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
To which, Gerlich said, “No. Those fees would no longer be billed to the towns and cities.”
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
The Snowflake High School (SHS) Student Council gave a presentation to the board of the activities that they had put on since the beginning of the school.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
One of the highlights was an assembly on depression and anxiety in which the council arranged for two medical professionals to answer questions from the students that had been submitted anonymously.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
SHS Principal Larry Titus complimented the council on their work throughout the year, when he said, “These guys and gals have done a great job and it’s easy to work when they take over the leadership of the school.”
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
Titus also noted that the assembly on depression and anxiety had given a lot of the kids an opportunity to go home and talk with mom and dad. “Parents thanked me because it gave them a chance to talk with their kids about those subjects.”
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
In other business, the board:
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
* Approved Arizona School Board Association policy advisory.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
* Approved setting up a bank account for electronic transfer of funds for the Use Tax.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
* Approved new employees: Ashley Brown, resource aid Snowflake Intermediate School (SIS); Shannin DeWitt, paraprofessional Taylor Elementary School (TES); and Lindsay Waldrep, paraprofessional Snowflake Junior High School.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
*Accepted the resignations of: Chelan Farr, paraprofessional TES; Bryce Henderson, paraprofessional Taylor Intermediate School (TIS); Ashlee Frei, paraprofessional TIS; Jessa VanWinkle, paraprofessional SIS; Jennah Self, paraprofessional TES; Kalysta Isaacs, paraprofessional Snowflake High School; Trista Hall, paraprofessional TES; and Marcie Sipes, paraprofessional Highland Primary School.
/wp:paragraph
wp:paragraph
*Tabled the reclassification of Camalee West until more information is provided.
/wp:paragraph
