To the editor:
Following tonight’s Delaware Valley School Board meeting, I am compelled to compose this letter to the citizens of Pike County. I am ashamed that Board members who voted affirmatively for the 2009-2010 school budget believe the citizens of this county to be idiots!
⇒ KEEP READING
When you wake up tomorrow, you may hear that the DV Board passed a school budget with a “0 percent tax increase.” BIG SHAM!
This so called “0 percent tax increase budget” was calculated with “stimulus fund money” that has NOT yet been provided to our district and possibly may never be provided as pointed out by the very same members who voted for the budget! This is one of the biggest deceptions that I have yet encountered. To tell Pike County citizens that this budget has a 0 percent tax increase when in actuality it may cost the taxpayers anywhere between a 2.5 percent to a 4.0 percent in increased taxes is unconscionable.
I for one refuse to be associated with this ridiculous fabrication. Using stimulus money, which we do not have, to “balance” a budget is highly unprofessional and indicative of an attitude of profound indifference to a fragile business community and struggling homeowners.
DV Board incumbents (Silverstone, Goldsack) recently sent a letter to Pike County residents promising they will provide a 0 percent increase to the taxpayers. Gee, after the election, do you think they will raise taxes to balance the “real” budget? I remember this happening when a former Board member ran for the office of Commissioner. A week after losing the election, the budget was re-opened and the taxes were increased. Interesting how history repeats itself.
Our country is in its worst shape since the Great Depression and our local educational leaders and fellow Board members are the last to understand this! Locally, The Pike County food pantry has an alarming demand. Jobs in Pike County are disappearing daily. Businesses are closing their doors. Apartments sit empty. The department of Public Welfare has never been so busy. There are no summer jobs for college students.
And it’s a time to raise taxes??
How dare my fellow Board members show such disrespect to our community! There is no way to get around this con job! Citizens deserve the truth. The real facts of the budget must be revealed and citizens must demand transparency from all Board members. Budgets must be based upon real monies, not reckless gambling behavior.
NEVER have I been so embarrassed to be a member of the DV Board. Never have I been so insulted at the disrespect shown for the taxpayers in our county. So often I hear administrators and Board members lament that parents need to learn how to say no to their children. I think the time has come when Board members need to say no to the requests of the administration and more importantly public citizens need to say no! no! no! to Board member’s shameful actions.
I do NOT support a tax increase. But I would rather present an HONEST budget showing the hidden tax increase than to present a LIE to our citizens!
Citizens, according to Pennsylvania statute you have the right to view the budget during the next 30 days. Please request to view the budget. Ask about the funds and “absence of funds” so you may see for yourself what is happening here. You have a voice about this budget. Get involved and demand better representation. Together we can make a difference.
Fellow Board members, you call this budget an example of fiscal management? What a joke!
Of the Board members present, Pam Lutfy and Sue Schor were the only two members who voted NO for this charade called a budget.
I write this letter because my reputation is more important than an election. For those Board members, not running for re-election: Where is your thinking? Would not it have been less deceiving to simply present the true facts regarding the need for this budget? Give our constituents more credit!
Most sincerely,
Pam Lutfy
Delaware Valley School Board member, 2009 candidate
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8 comments:
Bravo Pam! Glad to see someone has fortitude and common sense. I remember when the budget was reopened right after Mrs' B's photo was spread on the front of the newspaper with a O% tax increase. Are we going to see these clowns on the front page too?Keep up the great work. We here in the sidelines appreciate what you do. Good luck in the election. Carol and I will be there for you and the others.
Appreciate you for not concealing the facts. How are we expected to manage our own budgets when the school manages theirs with fluff?
local business cannot endure much more. The bigwigs sit in their high places playing in their summer homes while we work long days to pay for taxes based on imaginary funds.
Pam,
If I had not seen it for myself I would not believe it.
The actions of the Board were disingenuous. Our student population is declining, yet the Board increased spending by 4.73% and somehow believes that they should force a 0% tax increase on paper by counting money our PA State Senate has voted down.
All agreed we will not know what money we will receive.
They asked no hard questions during budget presentations, but rely on "faith" that the administration only has asked for the money that needed. If there is one thing we all know, there is always fat in every budget. The only way you can cut it is by questioning the expenditures.
The most absurd statement "We will send a message to Harrisburg by adopting a 0% tax increase budget"
Oooooooo.
I can only imagine the fear that our lawmakers have now that DVSD has publicly stated they will not increase taxes in these hard economic times!
Somehow these Directors believe that our lawmakers will feel compelled to vote to give us the money that we knew we did not have, but we counted on, so our School Directors don't look foolish! After all, we are 1 of only 501 school districts! I mean, they have to listen to us!
The arrogance and sense of entitlement of this thinking is overwhelming.
I mean, if we spend it, they will pay; right? (The saddest part is that "they" is "us". There is no free lunch.)
Vote no for anyone that voted yes last night. They voted to spend money we do not have. If no more money comes from the state wee will increase our tax rate by more than the maximum allowable before a public referendum.
Vote yes for Pam Lutfy and Sue Schor. Vote yes for Jack Fisher, Chuck Pike and me. The five of us would have voted for a budget balanced on the money we know we will get.
We would not have voted for that fantasy budget that passed last night.
NO MORE STUNTS! I am fed up with having no money leftover after paying my bills and these guys spend money that we don't have! I already work two jobs to pay my bills and feed my kids. What's wrong with this town? I don't believe its all for the kids. If it were for the kids then our kids would be the best in the state without the big spending! It's about big pay raises and we all know it and benefits that many of us can never have. I don't begrudge nor do I support automatic raises each year just because that's the way its done in education. Do school leaders understand what its like having no money at the end of the month? If the stimulus money comes then buy the fancy supplies but don't bank on it and stop spending money that I don't have. Too much spoiledness in education. What kind of superentendent would keep asking for more top shelf during these times, my guess is one who expects the president to hand us a trillion dollars each year or one who doesnt know how the rest of us must live. Its not easy going against popularity. My vote goes to Lutfy, Greenlaw, Fisher and Schor. I know they will do whats right.
Anonymous:
You may not know this, but Chuck Pike also would not have misrepresented the budget and manipulated a 0% tax increase on papaer, one that would be well over 6% if no additional money comes from the state.
If you want someone that will be honest with you and respect your intelligence:
Vote for Fisher, Greenlaw, Lutfy and Schor for the four-year term.
Vote for Pike for the two-year term.
GREENLAW,are you sure about this? Pike didn't speak at the board meeting about the fluff budget and he was there. FISHER, LUTFY, SCHOR and GREENLAW spoke to the fluff budget. LUTFY was the ONLY one who spoke to business and the board and administrators allowed someone in the audience to speak over LUTFY's comments. Without business there are no jobs and no money for mortgages. Could this be the board's intent to decrease the student population? I hear they often complain about those New York kids. Pike should speak for himself. If candidates don't speak during an election what will they do if elected? Lutfy,Green-law, Schor and Fisher are clear about the fluff budget. It's time to take action and the action now is to get rid of TU candidates and seated board members who support fluff. Is a fluff budget worth losing our homes and closing our businesses? Get serious DV board. Look at the budget and start subtracting not adding. I hear DV students are lousy in math? What's your problem?
Yes. I am sure that Chuck Pike would not have voted for "Plan A", a plan to deceive the public into thinking there will be a 0% tax increase. We had coffee together afterward. I am certain he would have voted NO to what was put on the table.
Fisher, Greenlaw, Lutfy, Schor and Pike all would have advocated using the money we know we will get. We will be able to open the budget later if we get more money.
At home, do you budget winning the lottery or a football pool? That is what the Board did.
Fisher, Greenlaw, Lutfy, Schor and Pike all advocate budgeting with real numbers. I am sure.
Taxpayers you should be outraged!
I am so dishearten by the vote on the budget. I have spent most of my day bewildered by the dishonesty of the school board approving what some people say to be a 0% budget increase when it is closer to a 4% increase. How can we count on 2 million dollars that we dont have and may never get. Havent we all learned yet? The economy is in the position it is because of reasons like this! I promised the taxpayers, students, parents, grandparents and my family I would act responsible, always be honest and have integrity. I will continue to keep my word even if it is not in the majority. Thank you Pam for keeping your word too.
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