Albuquerque Public Schools lost big when they came to local taxpayers asking for a big property tax increase and were soundly defeated. They are now coming back to ask the taxpayers to renew mill levies that the District says will generate “a total of $302 million in election revenue, including state matching money, if voters approve the measures.”
The good news is that, at least for now, the District seems to have learned its lesson and is not asking for a tax increase.
The bad news is that APS doesn’t seem to have addressed any of the underlying management issues that make voters so skeptical of the District and its intentions/management of taxpayer dollars.
The other good news is that APS is having elections for school board this fall and three districts are up for a vote. This is where the same voters who overwhelmingly defeated a massive tax increase can (and hopefully will) vote for reform-minded APS School Board members who will change the way business is done at the District rather than voting in the same old union-blessed reinforcers of the status quo.
