News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
It’s never pleasant to increase our tax burden, even with the relatively light load SOAR would add. But SOAR provides important benefits to the entire Sisters community and the community should be willing to share the burden of paying for them.
When a key federal grant was cut, SOAR lost funding for after-school tutoring, English-language-learner Spanish — the very kinds of programs that are vital to youth in a time when schools provide less and less.
Other programs like a wilderness school or “keep kids in school” martial arts classes might seem disposable, or at least unsuitable for taxpayer support. But these programs are needed in a society where many families have both parents on the job, where kids no longer play pick-up ballgames in the park or can safely be left to simply wander the woods.
We might wish it was different, but it’s not. Organizations like SOAR are needed and require stable support if they’re going to last.
With the new money the SOAR board also plans to expand its offerings and use the funds to leverage grants for facility construction. The plans are not extravagant, but SOAR should be cautious. SOAR should recognize that if voters grant a five-year levy, they are not granting unlimited expansion into the indefinite future.
The goal should be for SOAR to find a level of sustainability at the lowest level of tax support possible. With growth in the Sisters area — and growth of the tax base — SOAR should be able to return to voters in five years with a much reduced request.
That would be a just reward for the community’s support of this worthwhile program.
Jim Cornelius, News Editor
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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