At the risk of being politically incorrect, I have to admit being as Scotch as they come, at least about a lot of things.

It's especially true this week, when we find ourselves ready to pay our real estate taxes in time to beat the May 1 deadline.

I have to admit being a little tight when it comes to voting for more taxes. The prospect of adding to the burden is not something I enjoy. We all have things we need, yet do without, just because we can't afford them.

But sometimes, doing without is false economy.

Take, for instance, the car analogy Tom Bredvick used Monday in a talk at the Heritage Senior Center.

Tom had an old car, he said, that needed $2,500 worth of new engine.

Faced with investing $2,500 to maintain a $3,000 car, which would doubtless need hundreds of more dollars of repair, Bredvick said most of us would buy a "new" $10,000 car and pay for it over five years.

That's basically what the school wants to do.

An option like that is especially attractive now, with interest rates as low as they have been in 45 years, he said.

Most of us have heard the arguments about old, inefficient schools, lack of compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and safety concerns, but I wonder how many know that we are already making payments that nearly equal the payments for the $5.8 million bond issue it will take to remodel and enlarge North Ward.

For the past several years, the school has been paying off a lease-purchase agreement for windows and other energy improvements, at the tune of $410,750 a year. That agreement will be paid off in the 2004-05 school year, just in time to start paying off the new bond issue, if it passes, to the tune of $440,000 a year.

The difference amounts to $24.80 a year -- that's less than 25 bucks every 12 months -- for a new, single-site elementary school.

That's probably less than what you are paying for cable or satellite TV every month, cellular phone or even Internet service.

Tearing the "Building For Their Future" brochure in half, Bredvick illustrated how inefficient operating two elementary schools is.

If he were to do the same to his home, for example, it wouldn't be long before each would need a kitchen, bathroom, television and other amenities.

How much better to combine everything you need into one structure, he said.

But aren't times hard? Don't McCook residents face many other expenses?

That's true, he admitted, but over the community's history, McCook residents have made a major investment in schools every 20 years or so.

East Ward was built just before the Great Depression. North Ward was built during a post-war recession, as was the high school in 1955. The junior high was built during the turmoil of the 1960s, and, when Central Elementary was built, the walls of the gymnasium could have been papered with the auction flyers from the farm crisis.

But economic development is the key to turning things around, and good schools are key to economic development. Bredvick said he knew of several professionals who turned down a move to McCook because of the school system.

"Has it ever been a good time to build a school?", he asked. "I'd like to turn that around, has there ever been a bad time to invest in education?", he continued.

"We're not providing the best education we can; we're providing the best teachers, in a limiting environment, that we can."

But you may disagree, and according to our online poll at http://mccookgazette.com a lot of you do. The "aginers" are leading the school bond supporters 382 to 358 as this is being written.

Perhaps you think property owners need a break right now, especially in light of the city's water problems and other challenges.

That's your right. That's what democracy is all about.

But you owe it to yourself and McCook's future to at least listen to the arguments presented by the Building for Their Future Committee.

You'll have that chance Thursday and again Monday, at 7:30 p.m. at the Junior High Cafeteria. Please attend, think about the issues, and then make an informed decision.