It was a small story, a few hundred words, but the tale of the Ukiah School District receiving broadband is one of those feel-good accounts that sometimes can be hard to come by.

The district will get $7 million to provide fiber connectivity with Pendleton. That’s big news for Ukiah School District patrons because the area is one of the most isolated in Oregon.

Most of the cash will come from a federal grant with the rest offered up by the state.

The project is a huge win no matter how one looks at it but the best thing about it is the way tax dollars were put to use in a way that is both prudent and impactful.

That’s often not the case. In terms of government waste of tax dollars, the U.S. would be a case that is hard to beat.

Every year tax dollars are shed for projects that have little long-term value and, while they may help out a few, often don’t have the return on investment that most taxpayers would consider equitable.

The Ukiah broadband project is essentially an investment in infrastructure and it is long overdue.

In fact, the state needs to do more investment in rural areas in broadband. Broadband almost instantly pushes a secluded area into the modern era and the payoff — in terms of education — is huge.

There always is a lot of talk about investing in education in Oregon and the state does — arguably — a moderately successful job of it. But more money is needed for smaller, remote districts like Ukiah.

A fiber optic project will help Ukiah students with their education and that will pay off in the long-term for taxpayers.

As taxpayers, we all want to expect our hard-earned dollars are used wisely and to the benefit of the greater whole. When they are not, when tax dollars are wasted, it leaves a bitter after taste and creates a sense that the stewards of our money are not focused on what really matters.

We share in the celebration of the Ukiah School District for the fiber connectivity investment, and we hope to see more of it for other districts in the future.

The more we invest in our rural infrastructure — including schools — the bigger dividend it will pay down the road. That means we will be able to look back and see that, at least for once, our money was used to help the entire community, not just a privileged few.