We believe in investing in the Valley’s future

A big-ticket item will greet Mat-Su Valley voters on their ballots on Election Day, Tuesday.

While the cost of Proposition 3 is significant, $215 million for the proposed school bond, but more than the price tag, the long-term economic impact of the projects should be weighed. The bond includes a wide-range of funding that would impact nearly every school in the Mat-Su School District, and benefit the bulk of the Mat-Su population at an affordable cost for Mat-Su Borough taxpayers. With a 70-30 split, the state would pick up 70 percent of the $215 million tab, leaving 30 percent for local taxpayers. According to the Mat-Su School District, with that breakdown, the average property owner would be taxed about $12 per month. The estimated cost is $6 per $100,000 of the value of property.

The bond also includes funds to upgrade athletic facilities at more than two-dozen local schools.

We have heard repeatedly that this portion of the bond is a luxury, not a need, and that the whole package should be voted down to “teach the school district a lesson.”

We disagree. And we’ll tell you why.

Four high schools — Colony, Palmer, Houston and Wasilla — would receive funding for the installation of artificial field turf and a synthetic track. And nearly 20 elementary schools would also see upgrades to their athletic facilities.

Upgrading these facilities will have a ripple effect throughout the community. Unlike the current high school athletic fields, which can only be used about 60 hours a year, upgrading these facilities to turf means teams from knee high through high school and beyond can schedule playing times on the improved playing surfaces.

Beyond that, there are a host of health benefits — for kids and adults — associated with physical fitness.

And there are economic benefits.

Our region has grown to include hotels, motels, restaurants, shopping and a bevy of entertainment options, such as a new multi-screen theater. As such, local schools can now go after the contracts to host more regional and state high school competitions.

And why is it that other schools bid for the rights to host state football or soccer games, or the state track and field championships? Well, for the cash infusion that comes with such events of course.

Each event like this stands to bring thousands of people to the Mat-Su Valley, who will purchase fuel and goods, dine at local restaurants and stay at local hotels. This leads to tremendous potential for positive economic impact.

We think it makes economic sense to invest public money in building infrastructure that will benefit our children and our community while creating jobs.

Economists tell us that every dollar spent here turns over in our community 10 times. That means a dollar spent at one business 10 times, whether the money came from out of town guests or locals eating out to celebrate mom or dad’s new job building this or that school or improving its athletic fields.

We understand that none of us is eager to take on more expenses right now, but we maintain that building infrastructure is good investment for state and local tax dollars and construction projects included in the bond will put people to work at living-wage — not minimum wage — jobs.

As a state, we need to diversify our economy. The oil largess that has built much of our infrastructure over the past 50 years is in a period of declining production. Who knows how long the state will be able to offer us a 70/30 match to build our local infrastructure?

Each person must decide whether they can afford this investment in the Valley’s future. We believe in the Valley and we believe this is a good investment in the Valley’s future.