Monday letters: Lexington 2 voters were misled

Last year my property tax bill was $687.16; this year it was $1,225.83 — an increase of 75 percent. This happened because Lexington District 2 voters overwhelmingly approved a bond referendum in 2014 to pay for school improvements and better opportunities for children. I voted in favor of the referendum because I am all for better-educated young people, my two sons received good educations in the district and I was a public school employee for 48 years.

So, why am I upset? Because I, like other voters, was misled/misinformed. We were told that about two-thirds of the additional taxes would be offset by tax credits, as school taxes have been for years. This proved to be not true.

The proposal was passed unanimously by the board, and the West Columbia City Council unanimously endorsed it. (Several board members told me they were misled, too.) The current superintendent and chief financial officer were not employed by the district at the time the issue was presented to the public, so they are not to blame for this faulty information.

I am sure the bonds will create better educational opportunities; I just think we were entitled to truthful information before casting our votes on a quarter-billion-dollar issue.

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 9:18 AM.