I received this comment on a previous post and am placing it up as a new post.
OKay, for the life of my I can't figure out how to create a new postings, so I'll just put a comment here. I was just on the district website and it seems that the walk thought of the school buildings on January 12th has been cancelled. Does anyone know why they have cancelled this? Is it being rescheduled?
I have the amazing cosmic power to initiate new posts, not mere mortals. :)
Having said that, I was unaware there was a walkthrough for Saturday January 12. Is this a continuation or a replacement the previous walkthrough from Saturday December 15 as discussed here, here, and here?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The Queen is Dead...Long Live the King
Those words will ring out at some point across the United Kingdom as Queen Elizabeth II will end her monarchy and be succeeded by her son Charles (or grandson William as some have suggested.)
But why wait for the UK of the future when right here in Morrisville we have this today.
President Sandy Gibson was variously described in shades of evil well over the boundaries of good taste and common law. However, the new board would ride to the rescue and fix all of her transgressions against the good folk of Morrisville.
President William Hellmann CPA is the new King, but curiously enough, following the same alleged imperial leanings. In addition, they complained that Hellmann did not provide the board with appropriate information ahead of the meeting that would allow them to make a decision Wednesday night. Chalk another one up for the Wheel of Karma. See the BCCT article from today. And just to set the record straight...Brenda Worob should publicly declare how she would have voted on this resolution. Life intrudes and there may have been very good reasons why she was not available. However, here's board member number 2 who has ducked out on dealing with information that might be embarrassing. Do not give these people a free pass.
The Morrisville school board passed a resolution 5-3 Wednesday night promising to keep the district’s real estate tax inflation rate increase at 4.4 percent or less for the 2008-09 school year.
The state’s Taxpayer Relief Act, known as Act 1, mandates this limit already. Ordinarily, boards do not adopt special resolutions against increasing taxes beyond the state mandated percentage. However, some board members believed it was important to pass the resolution to reinforce campaign promises to not raise taxes.
The preliminary budget of $21.95 million will be available for public review today on the district’s Web site, www.mv.org.
President William Hellmann, board members Marlys Mihok, William Farrell, Gloria Heater and Alfred Radosti voted for the referendum. Member Brenda Worob was absent.
The decision comes less than two months after the election of a school board that is largely against the building of a new $30 million pre-K through 12th grade consolidated school to take the place of three ailing existing schools.
Prior to the election, the district spent more than $2 million for engineering, architectural and other fees related to the proposed facility. In addition, a $30 million bond was approved for the planned building.
However, the current board’s scrapping of the proposed $30 million construction project last December has left the district with the prior financial obligations.
The district expects to be able to repay the principal of the bond through a maturing investment that will generate interest. Therefore, the bond issue should eventually be recovered. Hellmann said he is still working out the details with a financial consultant and couldn’t say how long it would take to recover the bond money.
Board members Robin Reithmeyer and Joseph Kemp said passing the resolution to hold tight to the 4.4 percent increase could be financially irresponsible because of those debts and other unforeseen obligations.
In addition, they complained that Hellmann did not provide the board with appropriate information ahead of the meeting that would allow them to make a decision Wednesday night.
“If we pass this resolution we will be shutting the door to the possibility of exceptions,” said Reithmeyer. “We can still cut the budget to 4.4 percent [without passing the resolution].”
Hellmann countered that there was room in the budget without applying for exceptions.
Hellman pointed to cuts to the contingency fund and in pension contributions, overtime pay for support staff and teaching salaries in areas including extracurricular, substitute and secondary reading.
School districts cannot raise taxes past a predetermined percentage set by the state without a voter referendum in the April primary election.
A school district has to present a final budget plan by Jan. 22, but it may be tweaked until June 30, when the finalized budget must be passed.
The preliminary budget was presented at the Dec. 12 meeting as $21.95 million. This is less than the expected revenue of roughly $21.99 million from various sources. The district expected to collect about $13 million in real estate taxes, up from about $12 million this year.
The board will vote on any revisions to the preliminary budget at a board meeting on Jan. 23.
The school district serves 1,052 children.
But why wait for the UK of the future when right here in Morrisville we have this today.
President Sandy Gibson was variously described in shades of evil well over the boundaries of good taste and common law. However, the new board would ride to the rescue and fix all of her transgressions against the good folk of Morrisville.
President William Hellmann CPA is the new King, but curiously enough, following the same alleged imperial leanings. In addition, they complained that Hellmann did not provide the board with appropriate information ahead of the meeting that would allow them to make a decision Wednesday night. Chalk another one up for the Wheel of Karma. See the BCCT article from today. And just to set the record straight...Brenda Worob should publicly declare how she would have voted on this resolution. Life intrudes and there may have been very good reasons why she was not available. However, here's board member number 2 who has ducked out on dealing with information that might be embarrassing. Do not give these people a free pass.
The Morrisville school board passed a resolution 5-3 Wednesday night promising to keep the district’s real estate tax inflation rate increase at 4.4 percent or less for the 2008-09 school year.
The state’s Taxpayer Relief Act, known as Act 1, mandates this limit already. Ordinarily, boards do not adopt special resolutions against increasing taxes beyond the state mandated percentage. However, some board members believed it was important to pass the resolution to reinforce campaign promises to not raise taxes.
The preliminary budget of $21.95 million will be available for public review today on the district’s Web site, www.mv.org.
President William Hellmann, board members Marlys Mihok, William Farrell, Gloria Heater and Alfred Radosti voted for the referendum. Member Brenda Worob was absent.
The decision comes less than two months after the election of a school board that is largely against the building of a new $30 million pre-K through 12th grade consolidated school to take the place of three ailing existing schools.
Prior to the election, the district spent more than $2 million for engineering, architectural and other fees related to the proposed facility. In addition, a $30 million bond was approved for the planned building.
However, the current board’s scrapping of the proposed $30 million construction project last December has left the district with the prior financial obligations.
The district expects to be able to repay the principal of the bond through a maturing investment that will generate interest. Therefore, the bond issue should eventually be recovered. Hellmann said he is still working out the details with a financial consultant and couldn’t say how long it would take to recover the bond money.
Board members Robin Reithmeyer and Joseph Kemp said passing the resolution to hold tight to the 4.4 percent increase could be financially irresponsible because of those debts and other unforeseen obligations.
In addition, they complained that Hellmann did not provide the board with appropriate information ahead of the meeting that would allow them to make a decision Wednesday night.
“If we pass this resolution we will be shutting the door to the possibility of exceptions,” said Reithmeyer. “We can still cut the budget to 4.4 percent [without passing the resolution].”
Hellmann countered that there was room in the budget without applying for exceptions.
Hellman pointed to cuts to the contingency fund and in pension contributions, overtime pay for support staff and teaching salaries in areas including extracurricular, substitute and secondary reading.
School districts cannot raise taxes past a predetermined percentage set by the state without a voter referendum in the April primary election.
A school district has to present a final budget plan by Jan. 22, but it may be tweaked until June 30, when the finalized budget must be passed.
The preliminary budget was presented at the Dec. 12 meeting as $21.95 million. This is less than the expected revenue of roughly $21.99 million from various sources. The district expected to collect about $13 million in real estate taxes, up from about $12 million this year.
The board will vote on any revisions to the preliminary budget at a board meeting on Jan. 23.
The school district serves 1,052 children.
Pension Brouhaha and Budgeting
Um...has anyone heard of "the Baby Boom?" That's the pesky generation of World War II offspring that have redefined everything they're touched. Now they are called the "Silver Tsunami" as they edge into retirement, wreaking havoc with another facet of society.
We can look more intently into how this mentioned article plays into the overall picture. Stop playing irresponsibly with teacher's pensions. I agree that this is an area of great expenditure. This is also an area where promises of the past, while they may need to be subtly tailored to match the realities of the future, need to be maintained without question. I am outraged by the companies of the past who have been raided for their fat retirement funds and then sold off as scraps. This is not the case here, but it is instructive to remember how many retirees have paid the price for CPAs and Esqs who turn beaucoup bucks into rubber checks.
William Hellman CPA's article (as quoted in a prior comment) is quite an eye-opener, especially when you get to the end paragraph.
But even if the worst-case scenario occurs -- school districts budget for higher contributions, but the Legislature does not act -- it shouldn't result in a major property tax increase, said Stephen MacNett, chief counsel to Senate Republicans.
''That issue itself shouldn't be the basis for a tax increase, because it's just simply continuing last year's rate,'' MacNett said. ''If that were to occur, that would mean we've dropped the ball.''
"We've" as Senate Republicans? Or "we've" as local school boards? We report; you decide.
We can look more intently into how this mentioned article plays into the overall picture. Stop playing irresponsibly with teacher's pensions. I agree that this is an area of great expenditure. This is also an area where promises of the past, while they may need to be subtly tailored to match the realities of the future, need to be maintained without question. I am outraged by the companies of the past who have been raided for their fat retirement funds and then sold off as scraps. This is not the case here, but it is instructive to remember how many retirees have paid the price for CPAs and Esqs who turn beaucoup bucks into rubber checks.
William Hellman CPA's article (as quoted in a prior comment) is quite an eye-opener, especially when you get to the end paragraph.
But even if the worst-case scenario occurs -- school districts budget for higher contributions, but the Legislature does not act -- it shouldn't result in a major property tax increase, said Stephen MacNett, chief counsel to Senate Republicans.
''That issue itself shouldn't be the basis for a tax increase, because it's just simply continuing last year's rate,'' MacNett said. ''If that were to occur, that would mean we've dropped the ball.''
"We've" as Senate Republicans? Or "we've" as local school boards? We report; you decide.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)