Earlier this evening, the Austin Public Schools school board considered a request by Hormel Foods for a tax abatement. We appreciated the thoughtful presentation to the board and the care taken to answer our questions. Like other members of this community, we are proud of Hormel and consider the company and its employees' good neighbors.
As board members, our commitments to the school district community include two especially important things. First, we are proud to engage thoughtfully, with transparency, and in accordance with board policies. While this does not make difficult decisions any easier for board members, we are grateful for how we do our work.
The second thing we keep in mind is that we are the temporary caretakers of a school district that countless community members have built over the generations. This means that we take a long view of our decisions and work to balance the needs of our students in our schools with the taxpayers whose money goes into funding them.
As a school board, our focus on what is good for our current and future students and current and future district taxpayers is different from the focus of other public entities in our community. This can understandably lead to some frustration.
Ultimately, the board voted to rescind a March 13 decision and voted 5-2 on a majority vote to approve the tax abatement request from fifteen to five years.
This was an extremely difficult vote for us all, and we differed in our individual approaches. However, while the community may agree or disagree with the outcome, we hope that the entire district community values the thought we put into this matter, the openness with which this debate took place, and that the issues were addressed according to the governance policies of the board.
Regardless of the outcome, we are grateful for the input of community members, the generosity of Hormel, and the trust of the district community, not in us as individual board members but in the board as a whole.
We thank you for supporting the Austin Public Schools and the children and families/caregivers it serves.
On behalf of the Austin School Board, sincerely,
Joey Page, Ed.D.
Superintendent I Austin Public Schools
