School Board President Larry Lebowitz and our illustrious superintendent sent a letter to Governor Tom Wolf expressing their opposition to the elimination of the Act 1 Index. In the PG's Mt. Lebanon School District opposes elimination of Act 1 Index, elimination of the Act 1 Index would mean that school districts would have to put a referendum on the ballot for any and all property tax increases.
Act 1 went into effect in 2006 and allows school districts to apply to increase taxes for expenses such as pension payments and special education to a pre-set index based on wage inflation. Currently, a referendum is not needed for the increases as long as they don’t exceed the district’s index.
Larry thinks that is a bad idea. Programs would have to be cut. He wants us to write letters to our legislators. Uh, no, Larry. This gal will not be doing that. We don't like the huge raises that administrators have been giving themselves. Eliminating the Act 1 Index would kill Jan Klein's fake budget that she submits in the winter months. (I think it is in February.) She took advantage of all the exceptions and frankly, cooked the books. I think it is long overdue. I wrote about it in June 2011, A Referendum for School District Taxes? Mt. Lebanon has been abusing Act 1 since its beginning. I hope Act 1 Index is eliminated.
I support public education AND I support the elimination of the Act 1 index. Not only does it allow for spending sprees, but it creates incredible disparities across public schools based on micro-economies and an educational caste system.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, our governor is tying the referendum with the sales tax increase bill. He's creating a new state tax to fund the teacher pensions, and giving taxpayers the illusion they have control over local school spending. We need to keep the sales tax the same, add the referendum and cut pension benefits all at the same time. Even if it takes a constitutional amendment, the taxpayers cannot afford funding public pensions at current and future levels. Wolf will simply increase sales tax to unbearable levels without referendum with his current proposal.
ReplyDeleteKnew there had to be a catch with a Democratic governor! I agree with 10:26.
ReplyDelete“The nine of us on this school board know better about what our district and our children need,” said Lawrence Lebowitz, board president.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2015/11/20/Mt-Lebanon-Peters-criticize-proposed-limits-school-districts-taxing-powers/stories/201511200087