No Tribe bond payment

To the Editor:

The La Conner school board agreed to a contribution from the Swinomish Tax Authority of $660,000 for 2020. This includes $500,000 for operations and maintenance, $100,000 for roofing repairs for the gym and $60,000 for projects selected by the district.

The Swinomish contribution does not include any money for debt service on the bond that built the middle school. The district will levy $1,500,000 for that, of which the Swinomish should contribute about $243,000, based upon the percentage of the school population who are Native Americans.

There are 4,338 tax parcels in the La Conner school district, but due to senior exemptions and the disabled, only 2,302 pay school district taxes. It will cost the owners of each tax-paying parcel an average of $105.56 in 2020 to make up for the failure of the Swinomish to fund their portion of the debt service. This is not fair.

Sincerely,

Dan O’Donnell