Manatee County school board wrong to link lower impact fee to sales tax vote

The Donald is so cynical. Apparently he believes government officials are either totally incompetent or influenced by lobbyists.

The Donald would cite how cynicism evolves by observing our local government's decision-making process.

No doubt, The Donald would reference the actions of the Manatee school board as a failure of our representatives to do The Peoples' Business. Knowing that the board has identified capital funding deficiencies, The Donald would question why the board would phase in authorized impact fees: 50 percent the first year, 75 percent the second year, and 100 percent the third year.

Rather than implementing the fees proposed by an outside consultant (which was paid tens of thousands of dollars), the board decided to shortchange our children by millions. The Donald would question why the board "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory" and he would question why the board would focus on benefiting the builders.

Imagine how apoplectic The Donald would be upon hearing that the school board decided to reduce impact fees by 50 percent of the authorized amount if the 0.5 percent school tax is reauthorized for 2017.

What! Where did this come from? It reduces school funding significantly -- by tens of millions of dollars.

The Donald would wonder why the board is so focused on facilitating the builders' profit margins at the expense of our children.

The Donald is so cynical!

The true impact of the board's decisions is "huge!"

As a Manatee resident, I am disappointed/disgusted.

Richard Lundholm

Bradenton

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee County school board wrong to link lower impact fee to sales tax vote ."