Letters for Aug. 30, 2023

CVSD budget doesn’t make sense

The Spokesman-Review article (“CV school district adopts new budget, will wait on rehiring decisions,” Aug. 16) failed to mention the new two year contract with the CVSD teachers’ union that provides a 4%-5% pay raise, costing CVSD $8 million to $10 million dollars over the next two years, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

That money could instead be used to keep the fired teachers, most of whom were less than three months away from tenure.

Instead, the district chose a pay raise to be effective in October 2023, right before the election.

I’d be willing to bet that many CVSD teachers would have chosen to retain the fired teachers rather than a pay raise. Teachers in CVSD are paid well and do not need a pay raise if it means firing other teachers.

Moreover, the district fails to mention that the local tax levy expires in 2024, which is a loss of about $20 million to $30 million in loss revenue.

What if voters reject a new levy? CVSD is not planning well. Teachers were laid off in June 2023, on or about the same time CVSD signs a new contract for teacher pay raises at a cost of $8 million to $10 million dollars.

Does all this make sense?

Dennis Reed

Veradale

Complaints about tax assessments

My first complaint to our great new tax assessor, Mr. Konis, who has been in this position for a few years now: I would like to know why the assessed value on my property went from $112,000 to $267,000 in a lousy four-year period? Why did two different assessors assess the property twice in the same year? The first one in June 2022 and the second in October 2022? I’ll tell you why. Your group Googled my property instead of physically coming out to my property. The assessor added another $42,000 in 2023 taxes which increased the value to $304,000. I called to challenge this and, luckily, they came out to look at the property itself. They told me, “Oops!” they made a mistake.

Second complaint: Konis stated on KREM 2 News that they were giving property tax discounts to seniors. No problem there, but have to jump through hoops to get the discount. You must be 61 and older or be disabled and can’t work. My beef is that the discount for U.S. veterans requires making $50,000 or less per year, and also requires an 80% disability. How many veterans have that? Knowing how the VA works, I am a 20-year Air Force veteran, retired since 1991. It’s taken over 25 years to claim my 10% disability and an additional seven years to gain my 20% disability due to Agent Orange exposure in the 1970s.

So, my question to Konis is: Why is 80% the magic “number”? What about us vets making less than $35,000 per year on our military retirement and Social Security? How about a break for us poorer vets?

Gene Scolavino

Spokane

Columbia ‘Downstreamers’

The release of water from the Fukushima nuclear plant made big news recently. What will that radioactive water do to the ocean?

Here in Washington, we have been living with a similar issue for a long time. Remember “Downwinders” from contamination coming from Hanford? I know people who died from downwind cancers. How about “Downstreamers” who live downstream on the Columbia River? Untreated radioactive water has leaked from Hanford for a long time. Having grown up at the mouth of the Columbia, and known people who ate lots of Columbia fish, and also had a lot of cancers in their family, I wonder… As a Hanford Reach fisherman, I once attended a Hanford leak presentation. When they pointed to a spot on the Reach and said “This is where the worst leak enters the river,” I noticed that that was my “best” fishing hole! Maybe that’s what made the spawners so red.

At least in Fukushima there is a lot of science and publicity involved. I have never heard of much science or publicity involved with the Columbia Downstreamers.

Tom Brattebo

Liberty Lake