Wow, it's one thing for the Board of Mythomania, aka Board of Hoarders, Board of Ed-Dems, Board of Dysfunction etc. to do their usual and stick it to the taxpayers but this year takes the cake. Not even a minuscule reduction in the school tax rate for the taxpayers with all that money being hoarded and wasted over there on Mythomania Lane.
Don't you want to see what the heck they're doing with all that money? This year they received $94,373,215 in state aid, which was a $20,865,217 or 28.38% increase over last year's $73,507,998. That's just the state aid and doesn't count all that $40-50 million or so they've been hoarding over the years.
Don't you want to ask what the heck they're doing with all that money since they're certainly not solving the Overcrowding problem with all these piecemeal projects.
Here's the summary they show you of the actual preliminary school budget they're sending down to the County Super after tomorrow night's vote, which according to the state calendar was supposed to be there today.
Be that as it may, from this we can't see what's actually in the preliminary school budget but we can come up with what this budget means to your property taxes - and it's pretty pathetic.
According to this summary, their appropriations are going up to $367,313,416 and the taxes to be raised from this budget are $253,013,168. This equates to a Calendar Year School tax Rate of $3.171, which is down 2-cents from last year's $3.191.
Now before you think that's a good thing, recognize this; the bulk of that 2-cent decrease in the school tax rate is solely due to the increase in the Rateables, which has nothing to do with their $pending, and that $259,375 you see as a $pending decrease isn't really a decrease. It represents the flow over into this year of erroneously overstating last year's school tax levy by $518,750, which erroneously raised the school tax rate to $3.191 over the correct $3.184.
So, now the erroneous over charge in the school tax levy grows to $778,125 ($518,750 + $259,375). It's bad enough that they won't throw the taxpayers a bone by reducing the school tax rate but it's quite another to be erroneously over charging them $778,125 to boot.
If you live in that mythical house assessed at $182,400, then here's your school taxes and whopping school tax cut. If you don't live in that mythical house assessed at $182,400, then take your home's assessed value and divide it by 100 and multiply that number by 3.171 to get your total school taxes or by .02 to get your whopping school tax reduction.
It's too important not to see what's in this school budget and having to wait until after it's adopted by the School board on April 30th is unacceptable. With school budgets working their way up to $400 million, it needs to be put in the public domain after it's approved by the County Super, which I understand can be no later that April 19th. Everyone has a right to have a chance to review the budget and the be able to ask poignant questions at their April 30th adoption meeting. Anything less would be a total and complete lack of transparency and exclusion of any community involvement.
Further, enough already with not providing a Staffing schedule (Headcount) by department with the school budget. You can't follow the change in the Staffing dollars or know if they're correct or make any sense of them without seeing the corresponding change in the Headcount. This will force them to stop with the budgeting games like 'Breakage' and the 'Staffing shell game' and make them disclose what they're actually doing with what is largest expenditure in the school budget - Staffing. Don't accept a school budget with staffing numbers without a corresponding Headcount schedule.
Anyhoo, don't be foolish and let them vote on this school budget on April 30th without first showing it to you.
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