WARNING: Signs that say 55% tax increase are misleading.

When you see the signs all over Gig Harbor that read "55% tax increase," please note that this increase is NOT to your overall property taxes. Instead, the real number to your overall property taxes is closer to 10%. That's a HUGE difference. The signs are misleading to voters. The higher percentage refers to the schools portion of the property taxes. If the levy is passed, we will still have the lowest school taxes in all of Pierce County. And in comparison to other areas with equal assessed home values, we will still have lower taxes than almost every other district. It's time to show our community that we value education. We need this levy--there is not other way to fund a new school in Gig Harbor North. We cannot simply put our children in school in shifts--that is unhealthy to imagine young kids going to school in the evenings. And we cannot simply bus kids to other schools--all but two schools in the entire district are already near maximum capacity, and bussing to the two that have room would send those kids about 15 miles away. It's just not plausible.