Six 4 Seminole

Thank you so much for this amazing victory in defeating the sales tax increase. Remember, keep your yard signs because in all likely hood, the politicians will be back to ask for more tax increases. Click here to view final results.

“Baldface Baloney” That’s what the Sentinel calls false claims by pro sales tax group that this referendum will “lower taxes”. “It’s so obvious tax hikes don’t lead to lower taxes,” they report. Will the school bureaucrats now start telling the truth? See the story by clicking here!

Check out the postcard that has been mailed out to some Seminole County residents.

Click here to print off the new shorter flyers.  You can print two off and make a photocopy of two on a page!

Why should we vote “no” to this new Seminole County ½% sales tax increase?
We can help our local economy by voting no.

This is a very bad economy. People are suffering. Unemployment locally is 11.2%, much higher than the national rate. Many businesses are closing, and many people are losing their homes. Any credible economist will tell you higher taxes hurt our economy and kill jobs. This is not the time to raise taxes.

Yet four school board members and the bureaucrats in charge of schools have apparently not learned this economic lesson. These tax raisers like Superintendent Bill Vogel, say the $260 million tax increase will help the economy. I hope they are not teaching this nonsense to children in economics class.

Of course overpaid bureaucrats like Vogel, who pulls in more than $300,000 per year, earning both salary and retirement and other benefits at the same time, won’t feel the pain of higher taxes like we will. Most people in the private sector don’t have the luxury of earning a $370,162 retirement bonus, like Vogel did, and then going back to work a month later and double dip. A private company would go broke. A government would raise taxes.
Lower taxes help the economy by allowing us to keep more of our money to spend on our own families and businesses. The good news is, finally, after 20 years of paying nearly $1 billion in extra local sales taxes, the tax sunsets and returns to 6 percent versus the 7 percent it is now. This will allow hundreds of millions of dollars to return back to our local private sector economy.

Quality schools are important to all of us.  But the sales tax increase proposal on the ballot will not improve the quality of education. There is no credible evidence that spending more money on education will result in a better level of outcome.  The opposite actually happens.

Large school districts across the country that spend heavily on education have lower performance.  You do get more expensive bureaucrats like Vogel.  Washington DC spends enormous amounts of tax dollars per student and has terrible schools.  Orange County spends more than Seminole per student and has worse results.

Smaller school districts in the country spend less per student and have better results.  It is wrong for the tax raisers to claim higher taxes will result in better quality.  It is not true.

It surprises many to find out that this tax increase is not to be used for teacher salaries, or textbooks or supplies.  These are the things that many would think would help the quality of education. The tax increase also does not include any new schools.  Enrollment has actually decreased in Seminole County since 2005.

This $260 million tax increase will be used to tear down functional buildings and replace them with functional buildings.  It includes remodeling functional buildings, installing security fences and security cameras and buying computers that in a few months will be worth ½ their purchase price.  Now these may be good ideas but they are not pressing needs.  These projects could wait until the economy improves and tax revenues go back up.

Changes are occurring in Florida that will improve education.  Florida Virtual School is the fastest growing public school in the state where children learn online at their home, there are no school buildings.  Tax Credit Scholarships will greatly expand giving parents more choices in better quality education.  It is possible that enrollment will continue to decline as more options become available to parents.  In the future there is a possibility that we will be looking at some of these expensive buildings and will be trying to find uses for them.

But beyond the facts and figures is how the tax raisers are treating us. In one ad they use the term “lower taxes” four times and claim “voting for this initiative will lower the current sales tax.” This can only be described as a lie.  It is not true and they know it.  But instead of presenting facts, they think can fool us like other questionable campaigns we have seen.
This is a bad economy. Raising taxes is a bad idea. The tax increase does not improve the quality of education. It does not build one new school and it does not go to teacher pay, textbooks or supplies. It needs to be defeated Nov. 2.
Visit our web site at www.six4seminole.com to learn more or to help.

Grant Maloy
Chairman Six For Seminole

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Major announcement! Our “Vote No” yard signs are in! Send us an email at info@six4seminole.com to request a sign and we will get them to you.

Click Here to view the story about the school boards misleading phone calls.

Major news. Today’s Orlando Sentinel editorial opposes the tax increase! Please share with your friends.

Click here to see story.