Since the passage of Act 1 in 2006, 19 new senators and 99 new House members were elected. Many local school districts as well as PSBA believe that these new members have not had the benefit of the full public policy debate on school property tax reform. Our legislative liaison, Mrs. Birks, along with myself and other Board members have been talking to them about why the exceptions were created, and the impact of state and federal mandates and financial obligations on Mt. Lebanon's and other school districts' budgets, especially in light of significant cuts in state funding. If SB 911 or HB 1326 were signed into law, school districts who are now struggling to balance their budgets would face critical, long-term financial distress.
How can I say this politely? School Board members, including Mrs. Birks and Mrs. Posti, are trying to educate 19 new senators and 99 new House members?
Mrs. Posti goes on to say that
The exceptions provided for under Act 1 are for mandated costs that are difficult for school boards to control, such as those for special education, pension costs, court or administrative orders, increasing enrollments, principal and interest on debt, emergencies and disaster response, and other costs. Additionally, there are no exceptions for state mandates such as cyber charter school costs and Prevailing Wage and Separations Acts.
I believe that the majority of taxpayers in Mt. Lebanon understand that there are costs that are difficult to control. We get that. Perhaps the School Board will understand why almost 4,000 people signed a petition to cap the High School Renovation at $75 million. We could see the handwriting on the wall with pensions, reassessments, principal and interest on debt, etc. The School Board has control over the cost of that project. We have been saying all along that we will not be able to afford such an aggressive project. Mrs. Posti talks about debt limits and yet, there are articles about what happens when government hits the debt ceiling. We don't want to be there. Let's consider working with what we have so that we will not have to worry about how we will fund pensions or special education. We have decreasing enrollment, so maybe those new senators and House members are on to something.
14 comments:
Elaine, Elaine,
You must be aware that the economic theory (not principle) of price elasticity of demand does not apply to public education, particularly in an affulent community like Lebo ! Neither does cross elasticity of demand. Public education must maintain it's position as an almost total monopoly and not allow significant inroads by *alternatives*.
On the contrary, our challenged SB believes and will faithfully endeavor to educate our newly elected legislators to embrace the notion that the more you spend (and tax) on public education the better the academic performance outcome and demand for that particular educational experience. People will move here, jobs will be created, crime rates will decline. Just consider the city of Pittsburgh as a prime example !
We should retain the PDE's ability to provide automatic *check the box* waivers, exemptions and exceptions to any taxing, spending or debt controls on and for public education. The SB can count on my support for their important initiative.
Veblen Good
Don't you love the way our local elected officials feel the need to represent us by telling our state elected officials how they think we feel about state issues?
They need to butt out, and stick to local issues. Can you imagine how our state would be run if our school directors were in charge?
Our school district has plenty of problems of its own, and should mind its own business.
David Huston
LOL Another Good person. Sibling rivalry is alive and well in Mt. Lebanon. And before anyone asks, yes, I know Veblen too.
We're all getting our lessons in economics. Sorry Giffen, Veblen might be the School Board Poster Child.
Elaine
Nice to hear from you Veblen, how have you been? I recently read this factoid...
"The largest looming cost on the horizon is our state pension payments. While Act 120 of 2010 delayed the "pension spike", it created a pension staircase. Taxpayer contributions to pensions of state workers (SERS) and the state share for school district employees (PSERS) are projected to rise from $700 million this year to more than $4 BILLION [that's BILLION FOLKS not million] by 2017. That is a 500 percent increase."
Am I wrong, aren't salaries and the number of pensioners one of the biggest factors in rising pension costs?
If so, aren't the school boards and their administrators the final say on how big payrolls are and how many employees a district has?
Residents of Mt. Lebanon, how many of you were given a 4% raise this year?
Giffen Good
Giffen, big bro, you're missing the point. Get with the program. The SERS & PSERS folks are paying an increasing share of the state income taxes and buying the ever bigger and more expensive homes and cars (read that real estate & sales taxes) because their salaries have far surpassed average private sector salaries. This salary and income gap will undoubtedly continue to increase.
This increasing tax revenue will be a prime contributor to the solution to the "ladder" you refer to. In other words, the growing funding *problem* will be largely solved by the increasing overall taxes paid by SERS & PSERS folks themselves. A perfect plan ! Pay no attention to the temporary cutbacks in many municipal and district budgets and programs. We have to focus on the long term even though we cannot predict with any degree of certainty what might occur by year end.
Besides, 2017 is reportably a peak year in the funding bubble. Things get better after that, I think.
Veblen Good
I get it now... kind of like allowing more bank robberies because eventually all those bank robbers will be back flush with cash to bail out the empty banks. Wow... its all so simple!
- Giffen Good
Couldn't have conjured up a better analogy myself !
You got the drift, now join the movement. More is better, build it and they will come, it's for the children.
Veblen Good
We can control pension (and healthcare) costs by reducing staff.
Sarah Morris
All for $18 a month.
Elaine
I'm beginning to see the light. Those people that are getting $6 million for those awe-inspiring color renderings of the new high school we can't afford to build--really deep down are nice people working for us now for free.
And that $75 million bond and the additional bond needed to finish the project "someday" so none of our kids get hurt from those collapsing ceilings-- we've got that covered with this year's frozen millage rate right?
How could I be so stupid!
- Giffen Good
Elaine, that $18/month (or less) does seem to go pretty far.
Giffen and Veblen Good,
Got lots of feedback emailed to me about your comments. On the whole, very entertaining. I did get one highly critical, anonymous comment which I didn't publish. Gee, who could that have been from?
Anyway, your parents were very creative naming you two. I bet finding personalized light switch covers or mugs were tough to find when you were growing up.
I am learning alot about economics. I hope the School Board is learning right along with us.
Elaine
You would have enjoyed our dad - Cap (short for Capital). He's been gone for sometime now, but he always saved for the necessities.
- Giffen Good
Wait until Credence Good comes to town- she's a hoot!
- Giffen Good
Post a Comment