Residents, MUSD employees: Get out your checkbooks

The ever-popular April 15 wouldn’t mean a thing if it wasn’t for Dec. 31. So while we might be more focused on having a few more shopping days before Christmas, it’s important to keep in mind we have just 10 planning days before year-end.

And for every single Arizona taxpayer, that year-end planning should include two donations – one to a public school and another to a private one. Paying taxes is inevitable (think “death and taxes”), but thanks to our representatives at the state legislature, we have the ability to have a direct say in where some of our tax dollars go (click here to read applicable statute). While we cannot dictate which roads get paved or how many case managers Child Protective Services hires, we can give our taxes directly to the Maricopa High School band, to character and citizenship programs at Santa Rosa Elementary School, to the tuition of a special needs child at Graysmark Academy, etc.

Participating in this tax credit program is as much of a “no-brainer” as they come, yet an amazingly few Maricopans do. Maricopa Unified School District, to which taxpayers (that’s us) can contribute up to $400 for joint filers and $200 for single filers, received $48,000 last year, a huge 78 percent jump from the $27,000 received in 2007, which was an increase of 47 percent from 2006’s $18,000 and change. (see Maricopa Unified School District tax credit information here)

This a great trend, for sure, but one that can still be significantly improved. Would you believe that the revenue received in 2008 came from just 196 donors? That’s barely 1 percent of Maricopa households. Heck, it’s less than 20 percent of MUSD’s 1,000-plus employees.

If you’re paying state taxes this year, please make a contribution to MUSD and to an applicable private school before midnight Dec. 31. Make a difference in our kids; make a difference in our community. And if you’re a parent or employee, there is no excuse for not.

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