To the editor
In a year that:
Federal school aid will be reduced by over $500,000.
State aid will not increase and may even be less than last year.
The economy is still not generating new jobs and jobs remain hard to find.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by less than 2 percent.
The increase in enrollments is only 1.2 percent.
Instead of holding the line on costs, the school board has inexplicably chosen to:
Increase staff by 31 teachers, assistants and coaches.
Add new programs.
Increase spending by 5.6 percent.
Increase the property tax rate by 6.5 percent (from $1.663 to $1.771).
Under the circumstances, this is not the response that is called for. It is irresponsible and out of touch with economic reality. It totally disregards the impact on the property taxpayer.
There is no attempt at restraint in the proposed budget. In the past few years, there were reasonable attempts to remove excessive costs from the school budget before it was presented to the public in February.
But the proposed increases were still large; the budget was defeated by the voters and ultimately reduced an additional $1.1 million by the Township Committee.
It is obvious what the school board’s strategy is this year: Make no attempt at cost control, anticipating another defeat by the voters and the usual $1.1 million reduction by the Township Committee, thus expecting to end up with a more generous outcome than earlier years.
Except this approach will backfire. I for one will petition the Township Committee for greater reductions than past years, recommending that the budget be reduced so it just meets the T&E requirements mandated by the state. I will petition that the entire budget be subject for reduction, not just the new items.
If successful, this will result in substantially smaller increases in the budget, possibly a budget that is even less than last year.
An increase in line with the 2 percent CPI is explainable, justifiable, and can win voter support. An increase that results in a tax increase that is three times the CPI increase will certainly go down to voter defeat and be subject to unpredictable and possibly severe action by the Township Committee in May.
To avoid this outcome and the possibility of putting the entire budget at risk, I strongly suggest that the school board take action now to avoid Township Committee oversight by revising their recommendations to realistic levels that reflect economic realities and that can win taxpayer support.
Baird Drive