APS' deliberate deception surrounding the bond issue and mill levy.

Next February 2nd, voters will vote on a bond issue and mill levy in support of the Albuquerque Public Schools. The APS has asked for taxpayer support.

Within their "news release", link, the following statement is made;

"Approval of the mill levy and bonds
would not increase taxes."

The truth is that approving any mill levy or bond issue raises taxes. A mill levy is a tax. Bonds are paid for with tax dollars.

The deception is; there is a tax in place about to expire. The new tax will replace the old tax. It the old tax ends as the new tax begins, from one day to the next, the "dollar amount of tax" will not increase in "number". You will be paying "X" amount of taxes one day, and the same "X" amount the next day. But if the tax were voted down, the tax you pay would be "X" one day, and zero the next.

You can argue the semantics as long as you want, this is deception.

The standards of conduct, link, that apply to students read;

Honesty

There is no more fundamental ethical value than honesty. We associate honesty with people of honor, and we admire and rely on those who are honest. But honesty is a broader concept than many may realize. It involves both communications and conduct.

Honesty in communications is expressing the truth as best we know it and not conveying it in a way likely to mislead or deceive. There are three dimensions:

Truthfulness. Truthfulness is presenting the facts to the best of our knowledge. Intent is the crucial distinction between truthfulness and truth itself. Being wrong is not the same thing as lying, although honest mistakes can still damage trust insofar as they may show sloppy judgment.

Sincerity. Sincerity is genuineness, being without trickery or duplicity. It precludes all acts, including half-truths, out-of-context statements, and even silence, that are intended to create beliefs or leave impressions that are untrue or misleading.

Candor. In relationships involving legitimate expectations of trust, honesty may also require candor, forthrightness and frankness, imposing the obligation to volunteer information that another person needs to know.

By any reasonable measure, the statement,
"taxes will not increase" is dishonest.

The leadership of the APS is behaving dishonestly.

They would have you ignore their dishonesty and instead,
trust them with another $616M to spend,

• without adequate rules, policies, regulations, and procedures*, and
• without honest accountability to those rules, policies, regulations and procedures*, and
• without keeping adequate records*

* the conclusions of the Meyners + Co. audit of the APS Finance Division.

And still, when asked if the Meyners auditors uncovered any criminal misconduct in their audit of APS' Finance Division, they will not respond.

They will not answer the question!