Dear Editor,
The upcoming levy goes far beyond your feelings toward schools and how they should be run. It goes beyond your political ideologies or allegiances as well. This levy is an economic issue for our entire community, and needs to be recognized as such.
Families that care about the wellbeing of their schools cover all walks of life, and therefore many facets of our community would be negatively affected if the levy does not pass.
If the levy does not pass, some business owners will leave. They will take jobs with them, and they will take resources for our community with them. This will affect job opportunities and may mean more competition for those jobs that remain.
If the levy does not pass, a portion of the workforce will leave. This is equally pressing as our workforce buys groceries, gas, cars, and houses. Our workforce goes out to dinner, goes skiing, gets haircuts, goes to the doctor. The money earned in this community oftentimes gets spent in this community. If a portion leaves, many types of businesses will suffer.
If the levy does not pass, real estate values will plummet. As families leave the area, there will be a surplus of properties for sale. This will be coupled with fewer and fewer buyers, and that will lead to property value decreasing significantly.
So whether or not you have school-aged children, the upcoming levy decision will affect you, and will affect our county as a whole. If we want Sandpoint and the surrounding area to remain a viable place to live and to thrive economically, the passing of this levy is vital.
Conor Baranski
Sandpoint High School
Social Studies Dept.
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