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Hamilton County school board seeks bigger budget by 7-2 vote
The proposed 40-cent increase would buy:
* Art teachers in every elementary school. * Foreign language teachers in every elementary school. * 5 percent teacher raises. * Adult and virtual high schools * After-school programs and extra resources for urban schools * Technology updates. * Infrastructure improvements. Source: Hamilton County Department of Education Previous tax increases * August 2005: 26-cent increase: 16 cents went to schools and 10 cents to general government. * July 2007: 26-cent increase: Entire increase went to general government, but included targeted revenue to replace Red Bank Elementary and East Ridge Middle schools. Source: Newspaper archives
Many of us will buy at least $150 worth of plants this spring for our homes and yards.
Some of us just recently spent $150 on a new spring outfit — maybe for Easter. Others are springing $200 for season tickets to the Lookouts (even though we won’t attend even half of the 70 games). Some spent at least twice that on a prom dress. And stories suggest about 5 percent of us will pony up about $400 to buy an Apple watch in the next few weeks.
But ask us to drop another $150 a year on our property tax for schools and you’d think a mad hornet had tied us to its oversized nest.