From the BCCT.
Preliminary budget has average $128 tax hike
School board members promised to find a way to eliminate the need for a property tax increase.
By JOAN HELLYER
The owner of Bristol’s average assessed property would pay an extra $128 in taxes in the coming school year should there be no changes to the district’s preliminary budget.
The school board promised Thursday night it is trying to reduce the projected 2009-10 tax increase to $0, but is leaving open the possibility of raising taxes raise taxes if needed, given the current economic climate.
The board wants to find a way to cover an estimated $900,000 revenue shortfall projected for 2009-10. It is trying to do that with a combination of an early retirement incentive for district teachers, the use of reserve funds, and the leasing of classroom space to outside agencies.
But that plan has not been finalized and officials want to make sure they have a backup plan in case all the pieces do not fall in place.
So, as required by the state’s property tax relief law known as Act 1, the board adopted a $20.5 million preliminary budget Thursday night that includes an 8 mill tax increase.
According to a state-designated index, Bristol can raise taxes 5.3 percent or 6.36 mills without asking for voter approval. However, the preliminary budget adopted Thursday night is about 1.4 percent above that limit because the board will seek exemptions for special education and debt service costs.
Should the board move forward with the 8-mill increase, the owner of the average assessed property of $16,000 would pay $2,048 in taxes next school year.
The board has until June 30 to finalize the 2009-10 budget.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Pennsbury School Board Race Opens
From the BCCT.
Campbell running for school board
The founder of StopTeacherStrikes.com says he supports interactive public comment sessions at meetings and more parental access and input.
By MANASEE WAGH
Teachers strike opponent and Pennsbury parent Simon Campbell is running for a seat on the school board.
A proponent of political change in the district and the state, the Republican wants to run in the upcoming election because he wants to see better financial management and improved test scores, he said.
“It’s a critical time at Pennsbury because there’s a lot of pressure on school boards to be fiscally responsible. We don’t believe the board’s being fiscally responsible. We’ve got sleeping students, [inadequate] academic performances, not enough public transparency in the district,” he said.
Campbell supports interactive public comment sessions at board meetings and more parental access and input, he said.
The Lower Makefield resident has raised his voice against teacher strikes in Pennsylvania, one of 13 states that allow them.
He is the founder of StopTeacherStrikes.com, a grassroots organization dedicated to ending strikes and to making the public more aware of what he terms “compulsory unionism,” the fee that non-union teachers have to pay in Pennsbury for union benefits such as contract negotiation.
He has been extremely vocal in the community since 2005, when Pennsbury teachers went on strike for 21 days over a salary and benefits dispute.
Their contracts again are due to expire this summer. At the school board’s request, the Pennsbury Education Association voted to agree to extend the current contract and freeze cost of living increases for one year. Teachers at the top of the pay scale — more than half — would not get raises, though educational attainment and longevity increases still would be in effect.
The board plans to ratify the agreement later this month.
If passed, the contract extension would still cost taxpayers about $1.1 million.
Campbell is against allowing the union to contribute employee contributions to the union’s political action committee. His contention is that teachers unions influence political figures far too much, making it difficult to pass pending legislation to create a new bargaining method preventing strikes.
Originally from England, Campbell recently became a U.S. citizen.
“He’s a very active and visible community member, and I don’t really have an opinion,” said board member Linda Palsky. “I know he’s very informed and active and he has a desire to serve his community. He seems to be a reasonable, intelligent guy and I guess he feels he has something to offer.”
Campbell running for school board
The founder of StopTeacherStrikes.com says he supports interactive public comment sessions at meetings and more parental access and input.
By MANASEE WAGH
Teachers strike opponent and Pennsbury parent Simon Campbell is running for a seat on the school board.
A proponent of political change in the district and the state, the Republican wants to run in the upcoming election because he wants to see better financial management and improved test scores, he said.
“It’s a critical time at Pennsbury because there’s a lot of pressure on school boards to be fiscally responsible. We don’t believe the board’s being fiscally responsible. We’ve got sleeping students, [inadequate] academic performances, not enough public transparency in the district,” he said.
Campbell supports interactive public comment sessions at board meetings and more parental access and input, he said.
The Lower Makefield resident has raised his voice against teacher strikes in Pennsylvania, one of 13 states that allow them.
He is the founder of StopTeacherStrikes.com, a grassroots organization dedicated to ending strikes and to making the public more aware of what he terms “compulsory unionism,” the fee that non-union teachers have to pay in Pennsbury for union benefits such as contract negotiation.
He has been extremely vocal in the community since 2005, when Pennsbury teachers went on strike for 21 days over a salary and benefits dispute.
Their contracts again are due to expire this summer. At the school board’s request, the Pennsbury Education Association voted to agree to extend the current contract and freeze cost of living increases for one year. Teachers at the top of the pay scale — more than half — would not get raises, though educational attainment and longevity increases still would be in effect.
The board plans to ratify the agreement later this month.
If passed, the contract extension would still cost taxpayers about $1.1 million.
Campbell is against allowing the union to contribute employee contributions to the union’s political action committee. His contention is that teachers unions influence political figures far too much, making it difficult to pass pending legislation to create a new bargaining method preventing strikes.
Originally from England, Campbell recently became a U.S. citizen.
“He’s a very active and visible community member, and I don’t really have an opinion,” said board member Linda Palsky. “I know he’s very informed and active and he has a desire to serve his community. He seems to be a reasonable, intelligent guy and I guess he feels he has something to offer.”
Stimulus a Plus for PA
From the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader
Final stimulus bill will deliver for Pa. budget
By MARC LEVY (AP)
A massive new federal economic stimulus bill will deliver billions to Pennsylvania for highways, mass transit and school districts, although it will force Gov. Ed Rendell to plug a relatively small hole in the state's finances.
The news was a relief for Rendell, who had feared the implications of the Senate's version of the stimulus bill after it cut tens of billions of dollars for states. Rendell had based his budget proposal delivered last week on a more generous House bill.
A version expected to pass Congress in the next couple days will restore most of the money in the House bill, but not all. But filling that gap will be far less onerous than what Pennsylvania would have faced under the Senate's bill.
"To add another half a billion in cuts ... would have gone from a moderate level of cuts to a severe level of cuts," Rendell told reporters on a Thursday evening conference call.
Had the state lost $500 million, as the Senate bill would have dictated, state-related universities such as Penn State, museums and educational and health care institutions would have lost some or all their funding. Dollars for school districts and counties also would have plummeted, potentially forcing layoffs, Rendell said.
"So we have pretty much escaped a disaster," Rendell said.
Rendell has already ordered hundreds of millions in spending to be frozen as Pennsylvania faces a $2.3 billion shortfall this fiscal year amid a deepening national recession. He also cut another nearly $1 billion from existing programs in the budget he proposed for the 2009-10 fiscal year that begins July 1.
Rendell said Congress is still writing a funding formula, so it remained unclear exactly how much more money he must cut or find _ he speculated it could be another $60 to $70 million.
The White House and Congress struck a deal on a final $790 billion stimulus bill on Wednesday and details about it began emerging during the day Thursday.
All told, Pennsylvania will get more than $16 billion from the stimulus bill, including about $5 billion in aid for the budget, about $1.5 billion directly to school districts and another $1.7 billion for highways, bridges and mass transit agencies.
Some of the aid will be help for the jobless, such as unemployment benefits, food stamps, health coverage and more. It also includes a tax break of up to $800 for millions of lower- and middle-income taxpayers that would benefit 4.9 million Pennsylvanians, according to White House figures.
Rendell said shovels could begin turning dirt on some of those projects within a matter of four months, while some might take longer, up to nine months, to get contracts awarded.
According to White House estimates, the bill will create or save 143,000 jobs in Pennsylvania over the next two years, sixth-most jobs in the country. Since the recession began just over a year ago, Pennsylvania has lost more than 75,000 jobs.
Many of the jobs to be created will be in construction, Rendell said.
The bill also offers opportunities for the state to compete for money for air, rail and other transportation projects. One such project that Pennsylvania will pitch is for a rail connection between Scranton and the Pocono Mountains to New York City, Rendell said.
Final stimulus bill will deliver for Pa. budget
By MARC LEVY (AP)
A massive new federal economic stimulus bill will deliver billions to Pennsylvania for highways, mass transit and school districts, although it will force Gov. Ed Rendell to plug a relatively small hole in the state's finances.
The news was a relief for Rendell, who had feared the implications of the Senate's version of the stimulus bill after it cut tens of billions of dollars for states. Rendell had based his budget proposal delivered last week on a more generous House bill.
A version expected to pass Congress in the next couple days will restore most of the money in the House bill, but not all. But filling that gap will be far less onerous than what Pennsylvania would have faced under the Senate's bill.
"To add another half a billion in cuts ... would have gone from a moderate level of cuts to a severe level of cuts," Rendell told reporters on a Thursday evening conference call.
Had the state lost $500 million, as the Senate bill would have dictated, state-related universities such as Penn State, museums and educational and health care institutions would have lost some or all their funding. Dollars for school districts and counties also would have plummeted, potentially forcing layoffs, Rendell said.
"So we have pretty much escaped a disaster," Rendell said.
Rendell has already ordered hundreds of millions in spending to be frozen as Pennsylvania faces a $2.3 billion shortfall this fiscal year amid a deepening national recession. He also cut another nearly $1 billion from existing programs in the budget he proposed for the 2009-10 fiscal year that begins July 1.
Rendell said Congress is still writing a funding formula, so it remained unclear exactly how much more money he must cut or find _ he speculated it could be another $60 to $70 million.
The White House and Congress struck a deal on a final $790 billion stimulus bill on Wednesday and details about it began emerging during the day Thursday.
All told, Pennsylvania will get more than $16 billion from the stimulus bill, including about $5 billion in aid for the budget, about $1.5 billion directly to school districts and another $1.7 billion for highways, bridges and mass transit agencies.
Some of the aid will be help for the jobless, such as unemployment benefits, food stamps, health coverage and more. It also includes a tax break of up to $800 for millions of lower- and middle-income taxpayers that would benefit 4.9 million Pennsylvanians, according to White House figures.
Rendell said shovels could begin turning dirt on some of those projects within a matter of four months, while some might take longer, up to nine months, to get contracts awarded.
According to White House estimates, the bill will create or save 143,000 jobs in Pennsylvania over the next two years, sixth-most jobs in the country. Since the recession began just over a year ago, Pennsylvania has lost more than 75,000 jobs.
Many of the jobs to be created will be in construction, Rendell said.
The bill also offers opportunities for the state to compete for money for air, rail and other transportation projects. One such project that Pennsylvania will pitch is for a rail connection between Scranton and the Pocono Mountains to New York City, Rendell said.
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