Mark Hall lists reasons for endorsing Helvey, Dawson & Hanley for Noblesville School Board

Letters to the Editor do not reflect the opinions of The Reporter, its publisher or its staff. You can submit your own Letter to the Editor by email to News@ReadTheReporter.com. Please include your phone number and city of residence. The Reporter will publish one letter per person per week.

---

Dear Editor and Noblesville property owners:

If you live, own property, or work in Noblesville, please give me two minutes of your time and read why I am endorsing Brad Helvey, Dave Dawson, and Allison Hanley for Noblesville School Board. Please read why I ask you to join so many of us in supporting them and casting your votes for these three candidates in this change election.

The people of Hamilton County hired me to watch our tax money as if it were my own. This letter to the Editor is one way to fulfill that promise. Here is a summary of relevant points:

• School board elections are non-partisan, but candidates are partisan. Liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between. The voters need to know how the candidates will oversee K-12 education policy and taxpayer budgets.
• Noblesville remains a center right community. Until school board elections become partisan it is up to us to determine the views of the school board candidates and how they will govern. Policies and spending for an enterprise larger than the budget of our City Government are at stake.
• The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Incumbents running have cast ZERO no votes in almost four years. This speaks volumes.
• Forty-seven percent of our property tax bill goes to Noblesville Schools
• Noblesville schools’ referendum rate is .4662; it is the highest in the county.
• Noblesville has the highest tax rate of the big four county cities.
• Noblesville students scored just 54% proficiency on I-Learn testing.
• Noblesville Schools has lost 13% of our K-12 students to private schools (not including home school families,) the highest of the big four cities.
• Carmel has five more schools and 5,000 more students than Noblesville and their referendum rate is half of the Noblesville rate.
• We tend to elect friends or names that we know and more of the same means more of the same. Change is not easy and who you vote for is private. You can still be friends and vote for less money out of your pocket.
• Fourteen billion dollars in Indiana is spent annually on Education when including local funding. We don’t have a money problem! With good oversight, there is enough money to pay teachers well and achieve safety with academic performance.
• Teachers are taxpayers too. The increases in property taxes make affordability in Noblesville a challenge.
• $172 million estimated 2025 budget.
• Separation of decisions and influence is good policy – incumbents and their running mate serve with The Education Foundation, Redevelopment Commission, and Chamber of Commerce.
• Outsiders represent independent autonomous oversight without the promise of automatically supporting higher spending and more referendums.
• The increased S&P rating only matters if the plan is to borrow more money.
• What is better for our children, oversight of checks and balances, fresh perspectives or more borrowing, more spending and less oversight.

The people who serve on the Noblesville School Board are good and caring people. It is a hard and often thankless job. The three candidates that I endorse are good caring people also. I have met with and questioned these candidates. They bring a fresh perspective and conservative fiscal oversight to our school board. Our vote is a choice as to what leadership we want for our kids, teachers, administrators, wallets, and school system.

The two incumbents who are asking to be rehired have a voting record and a history that is responsible for where our education system, performance, and costs are today.

According to the record, the two incumbents have voted “Nay” zero times during this past term. I would think that during almost four years of votes that there would have been at least a few no votes on something, right? Everything couldn’t have been perfect with all those approvals, right? Unchecked spending results in higher budgets.

Why go to the expense of a better S&P rating unless the plan is to borrow more?

At the recent candidate forum, the two incumbents and their running mate all publicly acknowledge their fervent support for additional referendums.

My endorsement isn’t personal regarding candidates that I am not endorsing. As I mentioned previously, these are good people who already are involved in so many other civic minded boards, charities, and causes.

My endorsement is personal regarding the people that I represent. The people I committed to, to watch and report on taxes. The people who can’t afford to stay in their homes with the rising costs of everything. Now they face the prospect of even more referendums and more tightening of their belts with the incumbents’ promises of spending. It’s personal because of the people who can’t afford to buy a home in Noblesville.

I’m reminded by folks at church that teachers are homeowners too! They feel the same pain of high taxes that the rest of us do.

Add to the mix, the high likelihood of tax reform coming from the state legislature. Local government funding is likely to change. Who do you want watching spending and the budget in some uncertain times? Demonstrated perpetual yes votes or actual scrutiny.

Forty-seven percent of our property taxes go to our schools and well over 50% of the state’s budget goes to education. At a time when costs are spiraling, the value of your home has gone up 20 to 30%, and taxes on that value have also exploded.

I choose to support candidates this time who have committed to balancing good teacher pay, and excellent academic performance with fiscal oversight. These folks have pledged oversight on the hundreds of millions of dollars that will pass through our schools during the next four years. I choose to support candidates who believe that fiscal prudency can successfully coexist with academic excellence. Candidates that will bring fresh eyes, fresh perspectives, and sensible fiscal oversight to our school board.

The education of our children is critical to our future success. Teachers are heroes and some of the most important impactful neighbors that we have. Like most of you reading this, teachers have been major influences in my life.

If you are pleased with the educational experience of your kids/grandkids, this election is more about your personal budget. If you are not pleased with the educational experience of your kids/grandkids this is about budget and quality of education.

When you cast your vote, please consider our neighbors who can’t afford more increases to school spending. In my view, the 47% of our property taxes going to schools already hurts many family budgets. We can have safe, high-quality schools with well-paid teachers and live within our means.

Your choice matters. Please join so many of us who choose to support teachers, great schools, and fiscal oversight. Please join us in voting for Brad Helvey, Dave Dawson, and Allison Hanley on or before Nov. 5.

Mark Hall
Hamilton County Councilor