How will needs and wants be addressed by city, schools?

The Cheney School District and its supporters face some difficult decisions in the next few months.

On Feb. 10, 2015 voters will go to the polls and decide the fate of a $44.8 million bond issue that would pay for a much-needed renovation of Cheney High School. Also on the ballot that day is a three-year maintenance and operations levy.

The 48-year-old Cheney High School, like its human counterparts born nearly a half century ago, is showing its age. Like its human counterpart it needs a makeover so it does not suffer a wardrobe malfunction as more and more students — currently about 1,200 — are housed in a structure built for 900.

Some of their more notable wants and needs include adding classrooms, building a bigger cafeteria, constructing a larger auditorium, plus many, many smaller projects.

Various building committees have put in plenty of hours to author a plan they feel will cover the needs of students for years to come. They are to be commended for the effort and developing an easy to read map.

What’s not so clear at this point is how the city of Cheney will deal with some challenges it faces.

The city will have its 2015 budget out for review sometime in late-October. That’s when we’ll see what their wants and needs might be and how the city plans to pay for them.

For instance:

• The Cheney Light Department’s reserves have dwindled and are insufficient to cover potential large emergencies. What if a transformer goes out? And more rate increases are in the future from the Bonneville Power Administration.

• The Cheney Fire Department is in need of a new engine, but with towering college dorms, special add-ons are needed with that price tag hovering in the $650,000 range.

• The Cheney Police Department is often in need of both equipment and manpower so we’re not hearing, “Where’s a cop when you need one?”

This is where tough decisions need to be at least considered, separating wants from needs, in a still struggling economy and community that sometimes finds it hard for ends to meet.

Cheney has a growing poor population who must be considered both by schools and the city when decisions are made to add to tax burdens. Information found at city-data.com shows Cheney’s 2012 median income at $27,335 and $34,418 in Airway Heights while Spokane sat at $40,925.

While we are not exactly sure what needs the city might present in 2015, we do know that a bigger high school is a must.

But is a performing arts facility a need or a want? When the new gym was added some 20 years ago, it was promoted as a multipurpose building. There is certainly good rational for this want — music does sound better in an auditorium rather than in a boxy gym — but will 700 people attend musicals and plays enough times to transform this to a need?

A larger cafeteria has been designated a need, but a variety of observations show empty seats and students choosing — not being forced — to eat lunch in hallways and elsewhere.

Cheney is hurt a great deal by its lack of major producers of big-ticket retail sales tax items. The biggest blow in recent history has been the loss of new car dealerships.

The city has reacted accordingly over the past few years by being creative and frugal with its budgeting. They reconfigured some current staff positions, added duties and the ship sails on.

So there you have it, a napkin sketch illustrating the future for two significant consumers of your tax dollars, $47.5 million worth from the Cheney School District and over $23 million from the city.

Moving forward, be sure to give your 2-cents worth to both school and city officials and let them know how you feel. Maybe even let the community at large know what direction you think needs to be taken with a letter to the editor.

The citizens of Cheney have some tough decisions ahead of them in the coming months when they decide how they want their tax dollars spent. Will it be wants or needs when it comes to requests from schools and City Hall?