The passage of this new tax will provide an estimated $350,000 funding annually
My name is Bill Evans. I am the Superintendent of Lopez Schools and I was a member of the task force established by the San Juan County Council to bring recommendations to them as they considered and recently passed the 1/10th of 1 percent mental health and chemical dependency sales tax.
Beneath the thin veneer of public perception of our idyllic life here in the San Juan islands lies a stark reality that every day many of our neighbors, children, and community members wrestle with issues of mental health and chemical dependency. It is estimated that as high as 30 percent of any given population has a diagnosable mental illness – that’s 4800 plus of our island friends, neighbors, and students.
In his testimony of support for the tax, San Juan School District Superintendent Michael Soltman told the story of two students who would benefit from this new tax. One of the students was a middle school girl who has been increasingly absent from school and manifested serious signs of depression and emotional trouble following her parents’ divorce. The other student was a tenth grader who showed signs of possible drug use and eventually was suspended for marijuana possession. These young people could be from any of our island schools and are examples of students who would benefit from increased access to mental health professionals, therapy opportunities and/or chemical dependency interventions.
According to the 2006 Healthy Youth Survey administered to our county high schoolers, some 15 percent of our high school seniors reported symptoms of suicide ideation. Binge drinking was reported by 25 percent of our 10th graders and 42 percent of our seniors reported using alcohol, with 27 percent of our seniors saying they engaged in drinking and driving. Marijuana use by our students has been estimated at 33 percent. Mental health issues, while more difficult to quantify, are also clearly evident in a significant portion of our school children and young adults.
Mental health and chemical dependency issues have a significantly negative influence upon our schools and our ability to fulfill our mission of educating young people. Our counselors, teachers, and administrators wrestle with the manifestations of mental health and chemical dependency issues every day. It saddens each of us deeply to see such roadblocks to success that many of our students must overcome to reach their potential. WASL scores, grades, and homework don’t mean much to a child or young adult wrestling with an alcohol or drug problem, or a mental health outlook on life that casts a shadow upon everything else.
The passage of this new tax will provide an estimated $350,000 funding annually to further increase our county’s efforts to address the mental health and chemical dependency concerns that directly affect a significant portion of our community members. This tax will be minimally intrusive on our community and visitor shoppers at a rate of just 1 cent for each $10 purchased. While it will take awhile for the tax to be implemented and revenue generated, the benefits will be substantial.
A significant portion of the revenues from the new tax – approximately $125,000 – will be going to the schools in our county. It is no secret how tight our current school budgets are, with even more dismal forecasts for the coming year and beyond. The portion of the tax revenues proposed for the schools will be much appreciated and will boost our efforts to prevent mental health and chemical dependency problems in our schools. By challenging our children to adopt healthy life styles and by providing coping skills our children will need when faced with such issues as may lead to serious mental health and chemical dependency issues, we can help create a positive future for our children, and by extension, our communities. The revenues will help provide access to mental health professionals, provide funds for screening and other early-detection services, purchase psychological or psychiatric services when needed for troubled youth, and support classroom and other programs promoting positive mental health.
I salute the County Council’s commitment to our island communities. Their approval of the mental health and chemical dependency sales tax is a statement of their concern for the safety and welfare of ALL of our San Juan County residents.
Bill Evans is Superintendent of Lopez Schools and was a member of the mental health tax task force established by the County Council.
