Residents will soon receive mail-in ballots for a special election proposing a 23% property tax increase to benefit Silver Schools. Before voting, it might be helpful for taxpayers to have some numbers to show both the financial condition of the District, and the performance of the schools.

For the fiscal year 2022, Silver Schools had total revenue of $35,795,626. The following year, 2023, that rose to a staggering $38,825,778 (source: NM State Auditor website audited financial statements). That amounts to an increase of over $3 million, which is almost 10% higher than the year before.

What do the taxpayers get for this money, one might ask?

Well, the student proficiencies for students across the board in the Silver City School District are as follows: 41% of students are proficient in reading. 35% are proficient in science. And 28% are proficient in math. (source: NM Public Education Department website) Let that sink in.

With a 10% annual increase in revenues to nearly $40 million, less than half of the students can read at an acceptable level, and barely a quarter of them can do basic math! Yes, our property taxes are lower than some other places in the state, but we are not a wealthy community.

The 2022 median income in Silver was $36,853 with nearly 25% of residents at or below the poverty line. These numbers probably won't be mentioned in the Districts brochures and town hall meetings promoting the tax, but they are just the facts.

Jarrod Mason

Grant County, NM

This new tax will only exacerbate that issue while providing little or no meaningful improvements to students' outcomes.